The Passing of the Torch
by potterfan36041
Summary: Tommy goes to get his doctorate and encounters Mesogogg. He and his fellow rangers have to decide what to do with the powers they now have. COMPLETED!
1. Tommy's Sudden Return

**Summary:** While Tommy is getting his doctorate, something interesting happens. A new evil has makes itself present and he barely escapes with his life. The rangers, having gone back into retirement, have a hard decision to make. Do they either want to make new rangers or take the powers themselves? Sequel to "Saving the World, Again". Pairings are the same as in that story. PRDT. I suggest you read STWA before you read this one, or some details will confuse you. Contains partial nudity and cursing. If PG-13 doesn't sound like it covers it, let me know and I'll change it to R.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson and Fanny Abbott, as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story as it progresses.

I need to give some quick shout-outs to the people who reviewed the last chapter of the pre-quell to this story, so don't go crazy about that.

**Daniaryezel:** That's exactly how I want you to feel and you'll see why.

**jedi4jesus19:** I won't. This is the sequel and I hope that three days isn't too bad of a wait.

**Slshadowfox:** They won't be in jail because the evil will turn into a different form in this story, get my drift?

**powergal:** Thanks for reviewing and I hope that I haven't kept you waiting for too long.

**XRachX:** Thanks, I really appreciate it, and I hope you enjoy this one.

**Ghostwriter:** So will I, thank goodness, school will be over soon. Although, I have college this summer, which means some weeks you won't hear anything from me.

**KimberlyAnnOliver:** Kinda, although I have never really watched the DinoThunder series. So, I guess you can say that I will be using the characters, but the descriptions of how they got their powers and such will not follow the series.

**amy:** Thanks for the review!

Now, let's get this story started!

_Tommy's Thoughts _

As I walked down the path that leads to my house, I feel myself getting soaked to the bone as the rain thunders down around me, on an unusually cold July night. I have just had one of the worst forty-eight hour periods that I have ever experienced, even through my ranger years, but I still have about a quarter-mile before I can finally get some rest. I feel the dino gems moving in my pocket, as they rub against my leg causing the bruise under them to hurt, but all I can think of is what the hell have I gotten us into this time?

I don't want them to have to do all of this again, I don't really want to do all of this again, but I know I have to. I know what the dino gems can be used for, but I don't think any of us want to suit up again, not after what happened the last time we did. Nicarni-Aso wasn't exactly a piece of cake and Mesogogg seems to be worse than she was, although she had not reached her full power when we attacked her. I found that out after some more research that I did on the nights I couldn't sleep while I was trying to get over from being away from Kim. Thank goodness that I have finally reached my house, I just hope that Kim stayed up late tonight. Otherwise, I will have to stay in the rain for the rest of the night.

"Tommy, what happened to you?" Kim asked, when she opened the door to find her fiancé standing on the doorstep, soaked to the bone, looking dazed and confused. His clothing looked tattered and torn, which only increased her bewilderment and worry about what had brought him home in this condition. He looked as if he had gone through another battle, but this time he had handled it all by himself. She hadn't been expecting for him to get back for another week or two, which was what really led her to wonder what had happened to make him come back early and in the condition that he was in. The thoughts that were running through her mind were not reassuring as she waited for him to make a move to come inside, as she was afraid her touch would hurt him even more. As all physical signs were showing that might be the case, although she hated knowing that. She longed to throw her arms around him and give him a kiss after not seeing him for almost a year and a half, she somehow managed to restrain herself, for the time being. _'Oh, Tommy, what have you gotten yourself into this time?'_

"We need to call the other rangers together, we have a problem, Kim," Tommy said, as he started to go through the doorway and Kim moved out of his way and followed behind him into the living room. His walking looked pained and difficult, while the rest of his body seemed to agree that he needed some rest, but he was willing himself to stay awake. Why? She didn't know and she didn't really want to ask.

He knew that he was lucky to escape with his life, but now he had to explain to the others what he had managed to bring with him and everything that had happened over the past year and a half. Starting with the discovery of the dino gems and finishing with the explosion of the island, which left him as the sole, known, survivor of the incident. It was rough knowing that some of the people he had gotten so close to had not been able to escape, because of this new, demented, evil that now roamed among them. The best that he could do was promise revenge on this nemesis and with any luck, he would fulfill his promise. He had never let them down before and he planned on getting rid of this creature as well, only he could not fight any longer, not with a marriage pending and all of the wonderful things that were brought with it.

"Tommy, do they need to come right now or can it wait until morning? You look like you need to get some sleep, yourself, honey," Kim said, looking at the clock, which read midnight, but that might not matter to him. The only reason she was even up at this hour was because she had gotten enthralled in some of the school materials she had just received today. Over the last year she had gotten a job at Reefside Elementary and started a gymnastics program in conjunction with Tommy and Rocky's dojo.

School was going to start in about a month for the students and even sooner for them. Tommy would again be working at the high school, under a different principal and from what she had seen of the woman, Tommy would not like her at all. She, however, couldn't tell him any of this, not until she knew what had happened to cause his early departure from the island, although she was happy that he was back home. She now felt as if her earlier premonition of begging him to stay because he would be going into great danger had come true and she didn't like that at all.

"They need to come now. I can stay up for a few more hours," Tommy said, sinking down into his couch, not caring that he was soaked to the bone, from the half mile walk to his home. Kim, in the meantime, sneaked upstairs to make the calls and get Tommy a change of clothes.

He hadn't had enough money to make it all the way there and couldn't call, as his credit card and cell phone had been destroyed in the explosion. He knew that the other rangers would be outraged to receive a call at this time of night, but it was a true emergency this time. They didn't have a choice as to whether or not they could take on this evil, it had chosen them, not the other way around. When they put their powers back, they made a promise to only use them if there was not another power source that the Power Rangers could use.

Tommy had found another power source and was willing to use it, but he did not want to force any of them back into uniform. He was actually hoping to find some new rangers, but he wanted to run it by them first, just to make sure that they were all on board with this idea. If not, he would let whoever wanted to go back into action do just that, as he did not have the strength to argue.

"Jason," Kim said, as she prepared herself for the onslaught of cursing and yelling, as Jason was not pleasant at any time of the morning, much less midnight.

"This isn't Jason," Trini said, groggily looking at the clock and then over at Jason, who was still, sound asleep. Thank goodness, or Kim would be receiving an earful right now, as would she for him being woken up. "Do you need to talk to him?"

"No, Trini I need you to wake him up and get him to come to Tommy's house," Kim said, hating to ask her best friend to do this. She knew good and well what Jason could be like, if he woke up in a bad mood and prayed that Trini would forgive her for this later, as even she didn't truly know why.

"Kim, what's going on?" Trini asked, going to turn on the lights and grab some clothes, knowing something was definitely wrong in Reefside. She had never called at this time of night before and she sounded ready to break down at any moment. Trini could only pray that something hadn't happened to Tommy, otherwise Kim wouldn't be able to take in much longer.

"I don't know, but we've got a big problem," Kim said, as she heard Tommy groan from downstairs. She had better get back down there soon or he might do something crazy. He certainly did not seem up to doing much right now and if he was sick, he wouldn't be able to haul himself off of the couch and to the bathroom in time to throw up.

"We'll be there as soon as we can," Trini said, hanging up the phone and going to wake Jason up, which was not going to be a pleasant job.

"Here's you some clothes," Kim said throwing him a pair of boxers and an old, faded, red T-shirt, along with a dark pink towel to dry himself off with. He looked like his mind was a million miles away, while his body was sitting in what was going to become their living room. The last time she had seen him this spaced out was before he proposed and that was because he was under a great deal of stress, but what could be stressing him this time? Why wouldn't he just tell her, before he brought all of the rangers up there? Something was wrong, something was really wrong this time. "Dry off and then get changed. They're on their way out here, but it'll take some of them over an hour to get here."

"Thanks," Tommy said, running the towel over his head, before forcing himself to stand up. He didn't want to move, but knew that he'd have one hell of a cold if he didn't get out of these wet clothes and that happened to be the last thing he needed right now.

He slowly began to take off his tattered clothing, which revealed multiple bruises and a few deep cuts. Kim looked at him, in horrified awe at how his body was so badly beaten, from something that she knew he had no control over. It was more than obvious that all of this had happened very recently, maybe only the day before, as the scabs were not even fully formed.

"You're welcome," Kim said, as Tommy handed his wet clothing to her. She couldn't help but find herself staring, as he continued to take off his clothing and place it in Kim's open arms. Tommy seemed completely oblivious to what his actions were doing to Kim, because he had never so much as mooned her and now he was practically stripping in front of her. If this had been under different circumstances, she would have left the room, but she didn't think leaving him alone was a good idea. If he were to faint, she didn't want him to be alone and it looked like that could happen at any time. "Tommy, are you feeling alright?"

"Does it look like I'm feeling alright?" Tommy asked, picking up the dry boxers off of the couch and slipping them on. He then caught himself, too late, as he figured out what he had just done. He had never thought that he would do something like this until they were married, but his body was on autopilot, with him mind miles away, trying to figure out how he would explain this to all of them. His embarrassment showed as his face turned a deep shade of red, before glancing over at Kim, who had the same look mirrored on her face. "I'm sorry, Kim. I'm not thinking."

"It's all right, I don't think I would be in my right mind after whatever you've been through," Kim said, as her blush started to recede. Tommy then sat down on the couch again and stretched out. He reached up to try to pull Kim onto the couch, but he didn't have enough energy to make her sit down. So, she did what she knew he wanted her to do and joined him on the couch.

"I wish I had never gone to get my doctorate. I've missed you so much," Tommy whispered, wrapping his arms around her as she laid down next to him. If he had just stayed at home, he wouldn't be in so much pain and he wouldn't be the one delivering the news of this new evil to all of them. For all he knew, this new evil might not have even existed if they hadn't made some of the discoveries that they made while he was there.

"Tommy, this is what you wanted and no matter what it'll all be fine. I'm glad you're back home," Kim said and noticed that Tommy had already fallen asleep from pure exhaustion. She didn't see the point in moving, so she decided to stay there until the first ranger arrived. Neither knew that another person had showed up outside their residence, only minutes before Tommy did, looking for Kimberly Hart. She had been the lucky one, so many years ago and if he had it his way, he would rip Tommy and Kim apart again.

AN: I don't really know anything about DinoThunder, so I don't know exactly how the explosion occurred, but the description of that will be in the next chapter. I just wanted to go ahead and let you know about how limited my knowledge is of the DinoThunder series. I know that this chapter is very short, but I thought it would be best to start like this, before Tommy drops the bomb on all of them.


	2. Explanation of Why

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**jedi4jesus19:** Alright, it'll be out soon and I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter.

**TrueRomantic:** Well, I plan to use Conner, Kira, and Ethan as the DinoThunder Rangers, but they probably won't seem like themselves, just to go ahead and tell you. It won't follow the story line made by the writer's for this series, although Tommy will receive powers, eventually. I guess that this is the only way I could do it and try to keep the characters that were meant for the position's there.

**XRachX:** Thanks for the review! I'm glad you don't think that I'll have a problem pulling this off.

**Warstock-Leonhart:** I need the advice, trust me, but when you gave me your email address, you didn't leave the yahoo or wherever part. Could you do me a favor and send it to me again? I have a lot of questions to ask.

**hhsmajorettearg:** Yeah, sorry about that, but this chapter should explain it all away.

Now, on with the Story!

The next hour passed by slowly, as the rangers arrived, some in-groups of two or three and some alone. Rocky had been the last one to walk in, only five minutes ago and was grumbling about having to leave Ally alone, as this was one of the few nights he got to see her. The dojo had been taking up almost all of his time lately, since business was booming and Tommy hadn't been there to help at all. None of them seemed to understand what was going on, but when they saw Tommy, they knew it was a true emergency. He wouldn't look the way he did if something wasn't horribly wrong and he wouldn't even be here if something wasn't wrong. They knew that he was not supposed to be back for a couple more weeks, so what had happened?

"What the hell did you get me out of bed at this time of the morning for?" Jason asked, storming into Tommy's house, with Trini following behind him muttering barely audible apologies. Jason looked livid, while Trini just went and settled into a recliner, having heard all of this on the ride to Tommy's. She was shocked that she hadn't joined in on Jason's bad mood, but she didn't have to energy to at this time of morning and she also had the gut feeling that Kim would only be more upset if she joined him.

To say that Jason had never been a morning person was a vast understatement, in high school he had been known to lose his temper if someone got on his nerves too early in the morning, which was not a bright idea. They got used to avoiding any touchy subjects, until after third period on most days and if he was in a bad mood, they waited until after lunch. Now, he had been called away from his home at midnight for some little, insignificant, meeting. What the hell was Kim thinking about?

"Jason, we all want to know, but we're still waiting on Billy. We'll know once we he gets here," Rocky said, as Jason looked over to see Tommy was in a deep sleep, with bruises appearing all over his body.

This didn't look good, especially since he knew that Tommy had to have been the one to ask Kim to get them together at this time of night. She would have waited until the morning, but Tommy had never been one to wait when a problem arose and it was obvious that there was a problem at the moment.

"What happened?" Jason asked, walking over to Kim and seeing that she was just as upset as all of them, if not even more. Tommy wasn't supposed to be home, yet and now he understood why the gathering had to be immediately, they obviously didn't have much time to do whatever needed to be done. Now, he just had to go make sure his little 'sister' was all right, which she didn't look to be alright, by any stretch of the word's meaning and the two of them had been known to stretch the meaning very far.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, is pretty bad. He went to sleep as soon as I got off the phone with ya'll," Kim said, as Jason gave her a hug and she couldn't help but shake in his arms, trying not to cry. They then sat down in front of Tommy and Kim began fiddling with one of his battered hands. She had been fighting tears all night, but let a few trickle down her cheeks, as she told Jason what little bit of information she knew from Tommy. "He just kinda stumbled in and told me to call all of you before he went to sleep, from exhaustion I guess. I'm really scared about all of this, he's never done something like this before, even when he lost the green ranger powers. You know how crazy he got for awhile there and I thought that would be the worst I ever saw him, I guess I was wrong."

"It's gonna be fine. We've been through worse before," Adam said, reassuringly, as Kat had fallen back to sleep on his shoulder. When Kim had called, he wasn't sure whether he should bring her or not, but it didn't seem that Kim cared. She just wanted them to come, so she could hopefully stop worrying.

They were still going strong and Adam was planning on taking the next step, sometime soon, but he didn't know when that would be and now was not a good time to talk about it. They had another problem on their hands and it didn't seem that they could go too long without something like this happening. Being a ranger definitely had it's down sides at times but they wouldn't go back and change most of it.

"We don't have our powers anymore, Adam and we can't go around fighting this without them and we can't break the promise we made. There has to be some other power source out there," Kim said, hearing a knock on the door and knowing that Billy was finally there, which caused her to stand up and go get the door. Now they would be able to find out why Tommy had dragged all of them from the comfort of their homes in the middle of the night, to tell them this urgent news.

"Hey, Kim. What's going on?" Billy asked, as he groggily walked in and sat down on the floor, leaning his head back against the sofa he was sittng in front of. He didn't so much as look around to see what was going on or who was there that might have this news. He was too tired to think to do that and that was why he didn't see Tommy had joined them, once again.

"Tommy, wake up," Kim said, shaking his un-bruised shoulder as gently as she could. She was afraid to touch him, knowing that it would only cause him more pain, but she did because she had to. They couldn't wait around until he woke up, that might take the rest of tonight and a few other days, by the way he looked at the moment. "Tommy, come on, everyone's here now."

"Good," Tommy said, slowly opening his eyes and looking up to see that Kim still looked very concerned about him. He had expected the concern, but he could tell that she was worried and upset as well, which didn't make all of this any easier on him. Why did he always have to be the one to cause all of them so much pain and heartache, because of someone deciding to come after him?

"Tommy, what's going on? Why did you bring us here?" Rocky asked, as Tommy sat up and then pulled Kim down, so she was sitting in his lap. He felt better knowing that he would only have to say this once, but that still did not make it any easier to say. He had never liked to be the bearer of bad news and that had seemed to become his job lately.

"Well, it all started two days ago," Tommy said and gathered his thoughts about the explosion, as well as everything else he had been through while he was there. This was not going to be an easy thing to explain and he only hoped that he did a good enough job the first time, so that they wouldn't ask too many questions, as he could barely keep his eyes open now and he could only hope that he didn't go to sleep against Kim's side while he was telling it.

_Flashback to Two Days Before _

Tommy had just concluded his remaining research on the dino gems and was surprised to find that they contained an unknown amount of power, just waiting to be harnessed by someone. Dr. Mercer had given him this task, as well as the task of testing the tryadrones, which were the other project that they had been working on over the past few months.

Tommy had not been the only doctorate candidate that had been brought to the island and was surprised that Dr. Mercer was not making him do as much work as he was making the other candidate do, but he was not complaining. It had all been enjoyable, lonely, but enjoyable none the less. Now all he wanted to do was finish his thesis, so he could get back home to the woman that was there, waiting for him.

"Dr. Mercer, these dino gems happen to be much more powerful than you thought they were," Tommy said, having examined them thoroughly over the past three months.

His Power Ranger background let him deduce that these gems could very well be used to power some morphers. If that was ever needed again, but Dr. Mercer would never know that little bit of triva. He was not going to tell this man about what they could really be used for, as he would never understand how to make a morpher or what a morpher was, to be quite honest. Plus, he didn't trust the majority of the population enough to open up that much, to anyone besides the rangers about something of this magnitude.

"Well, Oliver, can you explain to me what, exactly, they can be used for?" Dr. Mercer asked, knowing his pupil was much more competent than he had once believed.

When they had first begun this project, he had given Tommy Oliver, or Oliver as he called him, the gems because they were the least likely to draw his attention to his real intentions that was until now. Something about this Oliver fellow made him feel uneasy, as if he had a background that would help him stop his plans, if he managed to figure out what they were. Now he was finding it necessary to not let him get off the island alive or he would be able to stop them and all of the plans they had made over this year and a half. The gems could be used in humans, but Dr. Mercer needed Tommy to explain to him how to use it and even if he didn't explain it, he could not let him get off the island with this knowledge. That just wasn't a risk he was willing to take.

"Yes, but you wouldn't believe me unless you had been one and I know you weren't," Tommy said with a smile. Dr. Mercer had been trying to get this secret out of him, the entire time he was there, but he wouldn't budge on it. He didn't trust this man and he definitely wasn't going to tell him that he had been a Power Ranger, for all of those years.

He also was going to make sure that these gems didn't leave his sight, until he left this island. He didn't want to take any chances that they would be tampered with, because if they were, then they would be rendered useless, and he did not want that to happen. If that happened, then he would have no choice but to pull out the powers they had put away only a short time ago, if something were to happen and there was always that chance, in the world that he lived in.

"Dr. Mercer, we have a problem," Todd Billingsway said, bursting into the lab and slamming the doors shut behind him. He stood about five foot ten, and looked to weigh a little over hundred and eighty pounds. His blonde hair, was buzzed, within an inch of its being and did not move whenever he walked into a room. Along with his slight appearance, he had a rather jittery disposition about things. This made him prone to dropping things and it also made him, very uncomfortable to be around in general.

He, however, got along better with Dr. Mercer than Tommy did, although Tommy couldn't see why, but he was just glad that he didn't have to spend anymore time with Dr. Mercer than absolutely necessary. Todd always took up the slack in that department, although right now it was striking him as very suspicious. Blame it on the old ranger intuition, but he didn't like the man and he didn't like his actions one bit. He seemed to know something Tommy didn't, everyone did, but it had gotten worse over the last few weeks, as his research had become more involved and they had become more desperate to get him to reveal his secret.

"What is it Billingsway?" Dr. Mercer asked, heading towards where Todd stood, hoping to be able toblock Tommy from exiting through the door, although he was already looking very determined to do whatever was needed. This was the most active they had seen Billingsway the whole time he was there and it worried Tommy a little bit, no take that back, it worried him a lot.

Dr. Mercer did not seem to be reacting to this emergency the way he would have and he slowly began making his way to where he had laid the dino gems, prepared to snatch them if he had to and even fight for them if it came to that. He was not going to leave them in Dr. Mercer's possession; his actions were just too suspicious for his liking and he had been known to do crazy things when circumstances went this way, as they often did when he was involved. He could only pray that Billy had been right about residual powers, though, because he had the feeling he would need them soon.

"We're being attacked. This Mesogogg thing is demanding the dino gems," Todd said and Tommy took this as his cue to stow the gems away in his pocket and run for it, knocking Todd down, if necessary. If these were to get into the wrong hands, it could mean utter destruction for the entire world and he did not want to have that on his conscience, if he was lucky enough to make it out of here alive.

"Run," Tommy commanded and he headed out the door Todd had come through, with Todd dodging out of the way, just in time. He could hear the attackers getting closer to the lab and he was not going to risk staying put any longer. He knew that he might not be able to make it out now and the only thing he found himself wishing for was the ability to morph, but he couldn't do that anymore. As he exited the first building, he saw a lizard-like creator standing in front of him, and he knew it must be Mesogogg. He looked to have just found himself in another battle with these crazy things, one that he had not had a clue about until a few seconds before. "Shit."

"I didn't know that you knew that word, Oliver. It doesn't matter, you won't be here much longer," Mesogogg said, as a group of tryadrones descended around him and Tommy knew exactly what he was up against, as he had been the one to help create them. The creature was carefully watching to see how he would react, but he still did not seem to be shaken, which shocked him. Most other people would begin to beg for mercy, as soon as they saw the creatures, but not this man. What could he do against them that no one else could? "If you'll give up the gems, we won't have to do this, Oliver."

"Try me," Tommy said, preparing himself to take on these creatures, that he now had, begrudingly, helped create.

He wished he would have seen it coming, but he didn't, as lately he had been focusing on getting home to Kim. He knew about the residual powers that had been drained from him before and only hoped that his newest powers had some residing effects left in him, although he had only had them for a short time. These creatures didn't scare him, not after having to deal with the asoriods, without any powers at all. He was going to get off of this damn island with the gems, whether or not Mesogogg liked it.

"Cocky, aren't we?" Mesogogg asked and then shrugged. This human wasn't like all of the others that he had met; he seemed to have something that they didn't, now if he could only figure out what that was. Surely, that would give him the advantage, or so he thought. Even if he had been able to figure out Tommy was a ranger, that would not have been an advantage, at all. "As you wish, tryadrones attack."

Tommy soon found himself in an intense battle with these creatures, but he finally managed to destroy all of them, although they took a lot out of him, but he didn't have the time to focus on that now. He then ran with all the energy that he had left in him, as buildings began exploding all around him. He knew that if he ever got out of all this mess, he was going to hang up his ranger hat for good this time. It was just too risky now. The final explosion threw him over a hundred feet, before he came to rest on one of the island's sandy beaches, barely grasping onto consciousness.

He stood up to scan the horizon for the boat that was supposed to be delivering some essentials to the island today, but nothing was out there, except water and more water. He then got the gut wrenching feeling that all of this had been planned and if he was discovered, they would kill him, without a second thought as to the people that might want to avenge his death.

He then began searching the island for some way out of this place. He continued to search the island until he found an old, abandoned airplane. He could vaguely remember some of the flying skills that he had been taught, in high school, but took his chances and boarded the plane, anyway. He was not giving Mesogogg any more time to look for him and he could only hope that the plane had enough fuel to get him back to Reefside, safely. Boy, did he have some bad news to deliver to the rangers when he got back to them.

_End of Flashback _

"So, I flew myself back to Reefside and paid for a cab to bring me out here," Tommy said, as he gave them some time to let it all sink in, as their faces showed the shock.

They had a new nemesis among them and after barely two years of peace, they had to decide if they wanted to suit back up or let someone new take a stab at being one of them. There was another power source, which meant they wouldn't have to use the powers they stowed away, not unless Mesogogg proved to be harder to defeat than they ever thought he would be. But which ones of them would suit up again and how long would it be before they could put the hat to the side again?

AN: I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, I know that it is on the shorter side as well, but I promise that the chapters will get longer as I go along. For those of you who are familiar with the DinoThunder series, I know that this probably does not follow very closely to what happened on the episodes that aired, so don't get too upset about it. Also, I know Kira and Conner's last names, but what is Ethan's? If you could just put it in your review then I would really appreciate it.


	3. What Are We Going to do Now?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**Sailorjlita:** Thanks for telling me his last name. You'll see where it comes in later.

**Daisyz:** I will and it will probably shock you when you read it.

**siriuslydeceased:** Thanks for telling me that, I really appreciate it.

**KimberlyAnnOliver:** Thanks for the offer, but for the time being, I'll check it on my own. I mean no offense to you, but this is something that gives me stress relief, if you get my point. If you see in major errors while reading, please write them down and send it to me, as I will try to correct them in the future.

**TrueRomantic:** Oh, why'd you have to guess that would come later? I hope you enjoy it, although it will be awhile before that comes into the story.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thanks for the reviewing and the information is definitely appreciated.

**Warstock-Leonhart:** Okay, thanks for that!

**XRachX:** You're not the only one, who doesn't know anything about Dino Thunder, as you can see by my writing.

**tennisgirl222:** Thank you for the review!

**hhsmajorettearg:** You and everyone else.

**gobball:** Thanks for clarifying that!

**Daniaryezel:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you like this one, so far. Like "Saving the World, Again", some of the chapters will be rather lengthy, but the first two weren't, as you can see.

Now, on with the Story!

_Zack's POV _

It took all of us a few minutes to let what Tommy had said completely sink into our brains, before we tried to comprehend it all. He had been attacked by this creature named Mesogogg that wanted these dino gems, whatever the hell those things are. This new monster does not sound like good news for all of us; it could even cause us to have to come out of retirement, again.

Tommy had better have a plan for all of this or we will be doing exactly what we were doing two years ago at this time, having powers transferred back into us and I'm not sure that we are capable of handling this anymore. I know that I can't take the withdrawal another time especially knowing that it would be as bad as it was last time, if not worse, on all of us. We all have only so much left to give and I know that we have given a lot so far, but what else will it take for all of the evil to finally be gone from our lives?

"Tommy," Kim mumbled, turning around in his lap and crying on his shoulder, as some sobs escaped her lips.

She couldn't stand the thought of him dying and to know how close he had been to having that happen again, scared her even more than they knew. Now he sat here, holding her as tight as he could, with the bruises the only evidence of the attack that he had been through two days ago and all because he had wanted to get that damn doctorate. A piece of paper that said he had been on that damned island for a year and a half and was qualified for it, but she didn't think that it was worth this type of suffering.

If she had it her way, he would never go out of her sight again, which only endeared her more to him. She had almost lost him so many times before, but this most recent time had definitely rattled her the most, in recent history. They were so close to having what they always wanted and she felt as if it had almost slipped away, once again. She didn't know how many more close calls she could take without having a nervous breakdown, just from the pure stress that she felt about it. She should have been able to do something to stop it.

"Shh. It'll be alright, it'll be alright," Tommy whispered, rubbing her back, as the others still seemed to be in a daze about what he had told them, not knowing if they should ask questions.

He had the feeling that he knew what was running through Kim's mind and it killed him knowing that he had been the cause of every thought that was going through her head at the moment. He always seemed to find himself in these situations and he hated what it did to her, every time that he barely scraped by, barely made it back home to her alive. He knew that she was thinking that there was going to be one day when he didn't scrape by and he would truly leave her alone in this world. He prayed that day would never come, because none of the others would be able to calm her down or make her happy again, like they so desperately hoped that they could. The proof of that was how miserable she had been during their prolonged seperation. She wouldn't be the same person, if it ever happened and he knew that all too well.

"What are we going to do now?" Jason asked, being the first to find his voice, however unsteady it happened to be. He knew that Tommy was going to try to keep them from going back into action, but he also knew that they might not have any other choice in the matter.

This life, that they had chosen to lead, was not exactly easy and when they were called upon, they had to drop everything and go, no questions asked and no reserves held against it. He knew that all too well and was willing to do it again, if they truly needed him to. They all were, even if they didn't necessarily like the idea at the time. They had done this long enough to understand the consequences of not showing up to help the team. The worst thing would be that one of their own would die, because no one was there to protect them, to watch their back, in essence.

"That is what I needed to talk to all of you about. We will need to build a new Command Center and we will also need to decide who will be the recipients of the gem's powers," Tommy said, gingerly picking Kim up and placing her where he had been sitting, as she looked at him, dumbfounded. He then continued on into the laundry room and dug around until he found his tattered pants, in the trash can. He then dug the three gems out of his left pocket and stumbled back into the living room, tossing the pants on the floor. He knew that they would have to see the gems to believe that he had really gotten a hold of them, in his miraculous escape from the island.

They were just happy enough to see him alive and were already thinking of what would happen if they reinstated the powers within themselves. Quitting jobs, buying houses, and calculating how much interest they had in their current homes, was all running through their minds. They knew it might take all of that to accomplish what they needed to, if they were called upon, again.

"You got the gems?" Billy asked, in awe, as Tommy placed them on the coffee table, with a tiny smile. They all stared at the gems and then back up at Tommy. Billy could not believe that Tommy had managed to get the gems and get off the island in one piece. The only reason that he seemed to be able to do that was that his ranger intuition was still at full alert, even if some of the other things weren't. Tommy never ceased to amaze him with what he could do; it was always possible for him to do things like this and only have a few minor injuries, although that was no comfort to Kim or most of the others right now. His escapades were some of the most dangerous that anyone had ever witnessed, but he always managed to get out of them, somehow.

"Yeah, but Mesogogg is after them and if we don't bond them to someone soon, oh buddy. He'll be able to get them, without a fight and we don't want that to happen," Tommy said, looking around at the other rangers. They all knew exactly what this meant, either three of them would go back into action or three new people would be recruited to join their ranks. Neither option sounded too great, but the latter would give them some more time to get things together. If they, themselves, had to go back into action, which it sounded like they would have to do that eventually. This Mesogogg creature seemed to be another Nicarni-Aso, although they were certain Zordon had not predicted anything about him or so they hoped.

"I'll come back, if you need me to," Jason volunteered, but Tommy shook his head no. They all then knew that Tommy did not intend to let them suit up again, not if he had his way. They were going to have to find new rangers this time. If they all wanted to go on living a regular life, then they did not need to be rangers again, even if that was the most normal thing for all of them. If they could find a way to put it off for just a few more months, then they would be able to arrange things, for when the time arrived.

"Who will the new rangers be, then?" Aisha asked, knowing that they all wanted to know where Tommy was going to suggest they find these people. Power Rangers could not be made; they were born to do their job, even if some people tried to say otherwise. It was in their blood and to find three people that had it in them, well it was certainly going to be rough, especially in this limited of a time period.

"Some of my students, probably," Tommy said, hating to know that he would soon be asking some teenagers to do what he, himself, had done as a teenager, become one of them. He was scared to death knowing that the nine of them were going to be responsible for bringing a new era of rangers into existence. There was no instruction manual for something like this. They were on their own this time, no help from Zordon or anyone else, for that matter. They were scared shitless at what this meant for them. They were now going to become the mentors of a new group of rangers and they had to get it right on the first try. They knew that they may not be lucky enough to get a second chance if they didn't achieve this.

"Where can we build the Command Center?" Billy asked, knowing that they were going to have to get the ball rolling soon if they hoped to get this done before school started. He knew that he wouldn't be able to help any, as his job was going to keep him busy, but Hayley would be more than willing to help. She had been the one that helped him figure out how to decrease the side effects of losing their powers and would mostly likely be the best help Tommy could get in Reefside, without having to inform anyone else about who they were. It was just too risky to do that right now, since they didn't know who was on Mesogogg's side, yet.

"My basement will work," Tommy said, as the others looked shocked, except Kim. He was prepared, to put all of this under his roof, when Kim and he would be starting a new life here very soon. It made no sense to them, other than being a Power Ranger was his life and it would always be a part of his life, no matter what happened or who came into it.

Kim seemed to be all right with it, so they didn't object too strongly, but they also wanted to make sure that Tommy was thinking clearly. After two days of no rest, he might not know what he had suggested or even thought it through before it came out of his mouth. If he was sure that he wanted to do this, then they were not going to try to stop him.

"Tommy, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, we can go back into action if you need us to," Rocky offered, but all he got was a glare and a firm 'no' from Tommy's end. Tommy knew that he would only send all of them back into action, if it was absolutely necessary and he didn't even want to consent to that, not yet. Not when they knew they had another power source, sitting at their finger tips. They couldn't ignore this power source, as it would not have the side effects that their last powers had on them or anyone else, from the limited information Tommy knew about the gems. They needed to buy some time, even if they had to be the ones to finish Mesogogg off, the new rangers would give them enough time to make plausible excuses, for their sudden disappearance from the realm called Earth.

"Rocky, we can't do this job forever. We're going to die, eventually and we need to have some other people who can do this, when we're gone," Trini said, as she saw Kat start to stir from her deep slumber on Adam's shoulder. Trini could tell that Adam was glad Kat had slept through what Tommy had told them. It wouldn't make her feel any better, knowing what it could possibly mean for all of them. She would have to sit on the sidelines and watch if they were called back into action and that was hard for any ranger to do.

She would admit to what she had accidentally caused and she had always wanted a chance to make it up to them, but Zordon had insisted that she did not go on that last mission, at all. Zordon knew best because she had actually made some of it up to them, when her spirit showed up in the aisle of deception. Tommy, Kim, and Jason had never discussed it in depth to her, but from what she knew, she had helped all of them see the truth about what they needed to do with their lives. So much for feeling like she owed them, it was actually the other way around now, but she was not going to let them pay her back. It would not be fair to any of them.

"Well, what about all of the other teams that have existed? You don't see them sitting here trying to decide what they are going to do with these powers, now do you? There are already other people out there, Trini," Rocky disputed, causing Kat to fully wake up and wonder what had started this yelling match. The last thing she remembered was Rocky walking in and now it seemed that they were trying to reach a decision on something. Although, she had no clue what that could be.

"But we're Zordon's chosen one's Rocky and you know that. We have to do what is best for the team in the long run," Aisha said, soothingly, as the others nodded their heads in agreement. Well everyone accept Jason, who looked ready to jump on Rocky, for yelling at Trini like that. Rocky did have a point, but they all knew that there wasn't much that they could do, now that they were tied down with jobs. If they didn't take responsibility for the gems, then they might as well hand them over to Mesogogg and let him rule the world. They all knew that this wasn't even an option, so now all they had to decide was if they were going to really go through with all of this.

"I know, but this is a lot to take at one time. We defeated Nicarni-Aso only a few years ago and I was just getting used to the peace and quiet around here," Rocky said, knowing that he was not the only one who felt this way. They all did to a certain extent, feeling as if their life was always being run by the next creature that decided to make an appearance. They had never expected it when they were put into retirement, the first time, but now they expected almost anything when news like this happened.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I was hoping to come home, get married, and live happily ever after, no more monsters, no more crazy freaks like Lord Zedd. I should have known better than to think that I wouldn't have to deal with something like this again. This life is going to follow us until our dying day and I guess it is time that we all come to terms with that," Tommy said, as most of them nodded in agreement, but Kim found herself not able to keep her mouth closed anymore. It was one thing when the other's talked about death, but Tommy talking about death was too much for her to handle tonight.

"Can we stop talking about death?" Kim asked, rather sharply, as all the other rangers looked at her, shocked at this sudden outburst, but they saw where her gaze was centered and understood why she didn't want to talk about this anymore.

Tommy had come too close to losing his life this time and them talking about it did not make her feel any better about the situation. All she hoped that she could do, was wake up tomorrow and this would all be a horrible nightmare, but in the pit of her stomach, she knew it was not a dream. It was the reality that she had lived in for the past eight or nine years, she couldn't remember exactly how long at this time her brain was not allowing to function in that way.

"Yeah," Tommy said, as Kim propped her head on his shoulder and he carefully lifted a hand to brush the hair out of her face. It was still bothering him, but it was obvious to him that the last few things that had been said had really gotten to Kim and that he was the only comfort she had right now, but even he was finally letting the fatigue get to him. If he didn't get to bed soon, he would fall asleep right there, even if they didn't want him to.

"If we're going to build a new command center, we need to draw up the plans for it," Billy said, as the rest of the rangers simply nodded their heads in agreement. They all felt that it was still too early in the morning to have a full-fledged conversation, which helped keep the talking to a minimum. Most of them would probably only be able to help draw it up, because of their jobs, but if the drawing was detailed enough, Tommy, Kim, Rocky, and Hayley should be able to handle it by themselves or so they hoped.

"I know, Billy, if you'd be willing to do that. I'm not good at drawing up things like that," Tommy said and then yawned. He had to get some rest soon or he would really lose his mind, which was already teetering on the verge as it was and his friend were able to tell that much about him. "And by this time tomorrow I may not be able to move my arms enough to help draw anyway."

"Tommy, you need to get some rest and we'll take care of this," Kim said, helping him up off the couch and guiding him upstairs. Tommy was barely able to move, but was somehow managing to be pushed up the stairs by Kim who was honestly worried about him.

She had only seen him like this a few times before and all of those times he had the power to protect him some, but that wasn't there for him anymore. He might not be able to recover like he had in the past and she was glad that she would be able to take care of him, since she wouldn't start working again for three more weeks. She could only hope that would be enough time for him to recuperate completely, from his latest ordeal in this life.

"Kim, we're in trouble if we don't get this started right away. I really need to be down there to help you with all of this," Tommy said, as Kim opened the door to his bedroom, which hadn't changed much since his departure. The only difference he could spot was that his closet was empty, except for a few clothes that Kim had placed in there. There were also clothes scattered on the floor that he was sure were not mens', but didn't care because the one thing he needed the most was still there. His bed seemed to call out to him, but he could not manage to move his feet fast enough, as his muscles were finally wearing out on him.

"Thomas Oliver, you need to rest and we have Billy down there. He will make sure that it is designed up to your standards," Kim said, tucking him into bed and giving him a kiss on the forehead. How could he even think of giving anymore to them? He had given so much already, the least they could do was let him get some much needed rest. "You have done too much for us over the last few days, rest Tommy."

"Okay," Tommy said and decided he wouldn't fight the fatigue anymore and went into a fitful sleep. His dreams were filled with the memories of the most recent event that had happened to him, but his body desperately needed the rest. So much so, that he was unable to wake up, just to shake off the nightmares that were continuing to plague him. He could not remember another night that had ever been like this, in the recent past, at least.

"Is he sleeping?" Trini asked, seeing that fear was etched on Kim's face, but relief was also starting to take its place as well, although it was going to take much longer for her to let that completely take over. They all were fearful now, of what was to come and no matter how much they tried to deny it, they were in for one of the hardest challenges that they had ever experienced, thus far during their tenure.

"Yes," Kim said, as Billy came back inside, with a laptop in tow. She knew that he had some sort of set up already programmed that would make this as easy as a few measurements. She really wished that she could sit down and talk with Trini, but that would have to wait for another time. They had business to attend to first.

"Can we see the basement?" Billy asked, as Kim started padding towards the kitchen, to lift up the trap door that Tommy had shown her before he left for that God forsaken island. They then headed down the stairs, to survey the area that would probably become the next command center. Billy looked to be a little more awake, but Kim reminded herself that she might want to start a pot of coffee when she went back upstairs. They all were going to have a sleepless night and the caffeine would definitely be appreciated, as the night wore on. "This looks to be more than adequate space."

"You think so?" Kim asked, as the basement had always looked small, until now. She now wondered if Tommy had bought this house with the intentions of turning the basement into a command center, if such an occasion should arise. It wouldn't surprise her in the least bit if he had actually thought of that, it seemed he was always thinking of the rangers, one way or another. She just hoped he wouldn't think of putting their children into ranger positions, with out both of them agreeing on it. It was a wonderful way of life, but even it had its downfalls and they both knew that.

"Yes," Billy said, after taking some quick measurements of the space and then heading back up the stairs, with Kim following close behind him. He knew that the plans would have to be very detailed and Hayley would definitely have to be brought in on this project, soon.

This command center was going to be the first of its kind and it had to be done right. He also knew that a great deal of power would be emitted from the area, once it was fully operational and if Mesogogg looked hard enough, he would find it. So they would also have to build a system of protective barriers that would help ward off any scans that would be done of this area, but how much time did they really have to do all of this? He wasn't going to bet that it would be more than a month, so they had to get to work on this immediately. Their time to wait had passed and they were being called back into a different type of action, for the time being.

That night was the first of many sleepless nights that would be caused by Mesogogg. These rangers now had the responsibility of getting a new command center up and running, within a month. Then the tough job began, finding a group of teenagers that would be willing to step into their places and would be able to do the job well. This was no small task and they all knew that, no matter how much they wanted to deny it.

AN: That's all for this chapter and I hope that you have enjoyed it. Feel free to review and I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can!


	4. Building the New Command Center

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**XRachX**: Thank you for the review and I'm glad that you like the story so far.

**Warstock-Leonhart:** Okay, I understand that, as it can truly be a hassle sometimes. Thanks for telling me where it is.

Now, on with the Story!

_Tommy's POV _

We began working on the Command Center exactly two days after my return home. I had slept most of those days, as the other rangers worked out the plans for the command center and Kim would have rather me rested longer and worked less. The poor baby was worried about me, although none of the others seem to blame her and neither do I. We have been put into a place that no one likes to be in.

Kim has barely let me out of her sight and I know that she is scared for me, as well as everyone else that will be brought into this. I know that we all have the right to feel like this, but I brought them into this, this time. I have never been the one to do this before, usually it was Zordon or someone else and now it seems to be my turn. Jason told me that Kim thinks she is going to lose me again, but I am determined to not let that happen, I love her too much to let that happen.

The first of our jobs was to clear everything out of my basement, which proved to take the better part of two days, as we had to find some place to store it, which is why our living room is so full now. Some of it, we have decided to throw away, but there is some of it that we will be dragging back down there. Well, actually, I wasn't too willing to get rid of most of it.

Within the first week, we had made another entrance, besides the trap door in the kitchen. The kitchen entrance would become very inconvenient as time went on and we all knew that. We do actually have a life outside of being rangers, which is hard for some to believe. The second entrance led to the forest, which could be used at any time, without having to intrude on our house.

It has been a grueling week and a half, but we have finally gotten to the wiring and morphing grid, two of the most tedious pieces of work in this entire project. Rocky and Jason have been dropping in, at least every other day to help, but we are going to have to wait for Billy, before we can finish the panels and get the morphing grid on line. That is the one thing that will make or break this project and we all know that, which is about as scary as the whole project itself, if you ask me.

"Kim, make sure that the panel is secure before we try to turn this station on, okay?" Hayley asked peeking her head under the steel encasements, as all she could see where Kim's feet. Kim happened to be the only one small enough to work comfortably in these spaces, so there was really no question as to why she had been working under the encasements so much.

Tommy and Hayley had been busy trying to prepare the morphing grid for installation later on that weekend. They had gotten two of the panels up and running, but had four more to go, before they could even begin the installation of the unstable morphing grid, which would be their hardest task to date.

As for the dino gems, they had been hidden away for the time being and would not be brought out until they had found adequate partners for the gems. Having these gems put Kim and Tommy in more danger, but they didn't want to put the others in any more danger than they were already in and they were used to living in the high stakes part of the group. They had been doing that for years, without really thinking about it, until now.

"Alright," Kim said, tightening each bolt, before dragging herself out of the crawl space and crawling over to Tommy. Tommy and she had been surviving on a measly, four hours of sleep a night for the past four days. They were doing this in the hopes of getting the panels ready by the time Billy got there, but it didn't seem like that was going to happen, as it was already five o'clock on Friday and he would be there any minute now. This lack of sleep was starting to catch up with them, in a way they never thought it would. The coffeepot, which Tommy and Kim had rarely used, was now constantly keeping a batch of coffee warm, or making a new pot. But even the amount of caffeine that they were guzzling down only seemed to perk them up for a short period of time, before they needed to be recharged. It, however, was keeping them awake long enough to complete the tasks at hand, which was all they really cared about. "Go ahead and try it."

"You're a saint," Tommy said, knowing that she would not have gone crawling around in small, dusty places for just anyone or anything, for that matter.

They both seemed to have decided to live in the same pair of clothes while the construction of the command center was under way; in order to not ruin any more clothes than they absolutely had to. Tommy, already, had to go buy a new wardrobe as most of his other one had been blown to smithereens and they didn't feel like adding anymore to the list than absolutely necessary. It was going to be hard finding clothes that they both liked, within their budget, as being schoolteacher's gave them a limited budget, and Tommy needed to be the one to buy clothes, instead of Kim this year.

"No, I'm not. I'm doing this because neither of you can fit under there without getting stuck," Kim said, stepping over to Tommy's side and feeling him put his arm around her, which only made her more tired, as the comfort was increased.

She was starving, sleepy, cranky and about ready to start whining but all of that was going to have to wait until they got the remaining panels into an operational mode, no matter how long it took. They had absolutely no clue about how long it was going to take them to get the morphing grid up and running and that had to be completed this weekend.

They would begin in-service on Monday and then school would start the following Monday. They couldn't lose anymore sleep than they already had and be able to function in their jobs, as normal people. It just wasn't possible, even for them. The command center had to be up and ready by Monday, or Billy and Hayley would have to work on it alone until it was ready for the new ranger team. They didn't have a choice about it anymore and Billy had already cleared it with his boss, although he wasn't very happy about it. There were bound to be other occasions in which he would be needed. He was hoping to save his off days for those occasions and not use them all up now, but whatever he had to do to get the command center up and running.

"Kim, Tommy, where are you?" Billy asked, peering down into what was once Tommy's basement, but it was beginning to look more and more like a command center, that even Zordon would have been proud of. He was astonished at what they had been able to do over the past few weeks, but he knew that they had probably lost a good bit of sleep to get this much completed. He could only hope that they hadn't lost so much sleep that they were surviving on only coffee. When he looked at the coffeepot, he knew it wasn't good, as it was brewing a fresh batch right now.

"Where do you think we are, Billy?" Kim retorted and Billy then headed down the stairs, carrying a bag of McDonald's and four twenty, ounce Mountain Dews, along with some tylenol, which Hayley had requested.

He had gotten the feeling that Kim and Tommy hadn't eaten in about two days from the limited amount of information he had been able to get out of Hayley during their five minute phone call. Hayley had not been too willing to talk about most of this to him over the phone, but she had told him that Kim and Tommy were running themselves ragged trying to get the place ready in time. Not that he was surprised by this, they had always done stuff like that before, including the last mission they were on. This time, however, it seemed that they were pushing their bodies to the extreme and Hayley had become very concerned about them. They needed their help with the final processes, which needed their minds to be clear, in order for them to be able to complete the tasks and not blow up Tommy's house in the process.

"I brought supper and both of you are going to eat," Billy said, as Kim and Tommy both smiled at his thoughtfulness, although they had no intentions of stopping just yet and he could tell that. With Billy finally being here, they hoped that they could get the remaining panels up and running within the next six hours and then start work on the morphing grid.

He had come here to help over the weekend with the final processes, but he could tell that Kim and Tommy needed to get some sleep and a square meal before they continued with the most tedious work. It might take Hayley and he longer to do the work that was left, but they could deal with one night of no sleep. He had pulled several sleepless nights in college and would be willing to do it again. He would do anything for the rangers, old or new, and they all knew that. They all felt that way, but some of them had more limited skills in this area than others. That was why he was here and they were staying out of the way, although they would come at a moment's notice if they were to be called upon.

"Thanks, Billy, but we really want to finish this before we do anything else. We'll eat after we're done, we promise," Kim said, giving him a tired smile and then looked up at Tommy to see he agreed with what she had said.

The panel that they had just been working on now came to life, but before Kim could get back into the crawl space, Billy had grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the hole in between two of the panels. She looked up at him, but did not struggle to pull away. She didn't have the strength to do that and now that he was here, the two of them could get the rest that they deserved. Tomorrow they'd all work on the morphing grid. He was going to make sure that they got some sleep tonight, even if he had to drag both of them upstairs and into their beds, which had been done before.

"Kim, you and Tommy need to get a square meal and some rest before you do anything else. It's too risky for you to work the way you are right now," Billy said, rather sternly, as to make sure that Kim had gotten the point that he wouldn't let her work until she had done so. Hayley gave him a thankful smile, knowing that they would listen to him when he said that they needed to rest. She knew that she would be much more cramped in the crawl space than Kim was, but if Tommy and Kim would get a full night's rest, everything would be go for tomorrow and that was the day that they needed them to be in their right mind, not tonight.

"Alright," Kim said, as she took a Mountain Dew out of Billy's hand and headed back upstairs, to eat in the kitchen. Tommy was grateful he had showed up because now they would be able to get some of the rest that they desperately needed.

Mesogogg hadn't been able to locate him, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he did and the remaining time that he had was slowly ticking away. He had never felt such hurry to do something before in his life, but they all agreed that he had good reason to, knowing that it was only a matter of time before Mesogogg found him. He wanted to be ready for when he did, because it was not likely to be pretty and they all knew that.

"Tommy are you alright?" Hayley asked, before crawling into the crawl space. In college, she had been known to go several days without any sleep and still be able to function like a normal human being. She was now glad that she had not lost that ability or these last two days would have been torture on her and everyone around her. Tommy, however, had not been as well off when he went a few days without sleep.

"Hayley, I don't have a clue what you just said and I can barely keep myself awake long enough to eat this," Tommy said, grabbing the first hamburger he came to in the bag and sitting down. He, unlike Hayley, needed to get at least eight hours of sleep every night, but had only been able to get sixteen hours of sleep over the last four days, instead of his usual thirty-two. This had thrown him off, in more ways than people could imagine, but he would be able to take it with one, good night, of sleep.

"I didn't know that they were this bad," Billy whispered to Hayley, as she merely shook her head, although he could not see it. On the mission to Asoriotan, they had pulled several sleepless nights, but now they could barely function. Of course, on the way to Asoriotan, they had not been working for twenty hours straight and they had their powers to help give them some extra energy. This was a little bit different from then, as they did have work to do and there were no extra energy boosters.

"Billy, this is the most important thing to them right now. They have put everything aside, including planning their wedding, to get this done," Hayley said, as Billy handed her some tools.

He would have been much more willing to go under the panels, but it looked like it would be a tight squeeze for anyone who was over five foot six and weighed over one hundred and thirty pounds. He fit into both of those categories, so it seemed like Hayley was going to have to do all the dirty work, although she didn't like the idea that much and she was making no attempts to hide her disdain. He just hoped that she would get used to this work or it was likely to be a very long night.

"I didn't know that Hayley," Billy said and started talking her through the procedure that Kim had been performing over the last four hours. This was going to be a long night, because the procedure had to be repeated, in a certain order or it would not work and if they were not careful, the monotony would overtake them and there might be an explosion that killed them and the two people sleeping upstairs. They did not need an explosion, especially after all of the work that had been put into it thus far.

"Kim, you go get the first shower and I'll be up there in a little bit," Tommy said, as they had both finished devouring their food. If they were going to make them get rest, then the least they could do was take full advantage of this and get a full night's sleep, as well as a shower, which they both desperately needed.

"Okay, Tommy, but don't take too long," Kim said, as she stumbled up the stairs and down the hall until she reached the master bedroom. When she opened the door, she was so glad to see the bed, that she almost forgot that she desperately needed to take a bath.

When she walked into the bathroom, she was startled by her own reflection. Dust and soot had settled on almost every inch of available skin, while her fingertips were black with grease and grease stains marked anywhere that they had touched while wet. She wondered how Tommy could possibly stand to be around her, but could only figure it was because he looked just as bad, although she hadn't noticed.

To be quite frank, she hadn't had the time to notice his appearance or anything else for that matter over the last few days. She had been too preoccupied with the job downstairs that nothing else mattered anymore, which meant Tommy could have grown a beard and she wouldn't have noticed lately. That was just how out of it she was, because of the project they had embarked upon and how it had totally engrossed their lives, in every way imaginable.

"You think that you'll be able to handle this?" Tommy asked, walking back downstairs, to make sure that it was safe for him to go get some sleep. He didn't want for Billy and Hayley to have to work too hard, but they didn't seem to mind the work, not yet at least. Although, they had no idea what they were getting into.

"Tommy, go get some sleep and tomorrow we'll try to finish this up. Hayley and I can handle it, I promise," Billy said, looking over at Tommy, who gave him a grateful smile and then headed back upstairs.

Billy could tell that Tommy's body had gone on autopilot about a day and a half ago, but he was still trudging on, helping as much as he could. He had never known Tommy to be clumsy, but he was beginning to exhibit the classic signs of clumsiness, no matter how much coordination he usually had. Billy couldn't help but stifle a laugh when Tommy nearly fell, but he had the feeling he would receive a lashing if he did. Tommy did not seem to be in any mood to joke around with, especially with him in a sleep deprived state.

"Thank you, Billy," Tommy said stumbling over the last step and then headed to tackle the set of stairs that would lead him to the master bathroom. That bedroom was the only salvation he had right now and he could only hope that the bed had not left the house, and at this point, it wouldn't surprise him if it had. Their room had to reek from the filthy clothing they had been wearing and his furniture probably wasn't taking it too well or so he would imagine, if the furniture was able to smell.

"It's not a problem," Billy said, as Hayley peeked her head out at the two of them. She looked up at Billy, who was obviously trying to hide his amusement at Tommy's actions, but she was just happy to see him. It had been a long time since he had made the trip up to Reefside, too long, if you asked her.

"For you it's not," Hayley said, grabbing a wrench and ducking back into the cramped, crawl space. She was hoping to make quick work of all of this, but found that it was much harder than she had expected.

"It's not that bad Hayley, and you know it," Billy said, laughing at her current position. She had her legs hanging out of the open hole, while her upper torso was buried under the encasement. Hayley had hoped to not have to completely immerse herself in the encasements, but soon found herself on her stomach, dragging herself towards the correct panel.

"You want to switch with me then?" Hayley asked, continuing to connect wires. She could see why it took Kim so long now to do the other panels. This got confusing after a little while and they couldn't afford to make many mistakes.

"No, thanks for offering though," Billy said, picking up some tools that he knew he was going to need when he attempted to work on the morphing grid. He had never been wise enough to ask Alpha how to make a morphing grid, but after some tinkering, they finally got it, but it was still much more unstable than they had wished it would be. If only he could get in touch with Alpha now, but no one knew where he was or if he even existed anymore.

"Kim, you done yet?" Tommy asked, peeking inside the bedroom and seeing that the bed was still empty. Well, if she was still taking a shower, then he was going to catch some shut eye before taking one himself. He then flopped down on the bed and was sound asleep within seconds. It wouldn't have surprised him if Kim had walked in, in a few seconds, but he missed everything that night. His brain had finally won the battle and he was not going to wake up, for quite awhile.

"What else have you found out about the explosion?" Hayley asked, while she busily connected the wires for the first panel out of the four that still needed to be connected.

She had been thinking over these past few weeks and could only hope that what Tommy had told all of them wasn't true. Of course, if it hadn't been true, she would be somewhere else right now and she knew that. She just didn't want to face the reality of it, although she knew she was going to have to, eventually. She was going to be working with the rangers and it was going to take some getting used to, having to live the way that they did, but Billy had been trying to help her adjust to it as much as she could before hand.

"Well, from everything that has been reported, that is the only explanation for what happened out there. Of course, no one has come out of the woodwork to tell a different story," Billy said, going over to work on the grid, but finding himself distracted by the things that had occurred over the last two weeks. Hayley had been calling him with questions about how it would be easiest to form a morphing grid, among other things.

He felt bad about bringing her into a life style that was so full of injuries and pain, which could be caused by the damn monsters that they had to fight or even by other rangers. She didn't know about Tommy, as an evil ranger or Kim and Jason being turned evil by Divatox, it wasn't necessary to tell her that little bit of triva. She didn't deserve to have to live this way, but she was determined to help them, even if she could only do maintenance work and if Billy had it his way, that was all she would ever do. He did not want her out there fighting, it would just be too much on his conscience if something happened to her.

"So, it's what we feared. Tommy really was the only survivor of that explosion. We don't have anyone elses to tell us his story is true," Hayley said, shaking her head in an attempt to keep the thoughts from clouding her focus.

They had all been silently praying that someone else would have survived, so that they could help them. They knew very little about what Mesogogg could do, other than Tommy's description. That description, however, was all they had to go on and it was very sketchy, at best. Tommy was only around the creature for a few minutes and he didn't know enough to give them a good idea of what was to come, so they planned for everything that they could possibly think of.

They were just as alone as they had feared they would be, if not more now, as they had no old friends to help them, although Alpha had been watching, with a great deal of concern beginning to cloud his mind. These rangers were being put through much more than Zordon had expected and he only hoped that they would be able to deal with it. He had been trying to come back to Earth, but had not been able to get back there, yet.

"Yeah, he was and he was really lucky, Hayley," Billy said, as Hayley crawled out of the crawl space to grab a steel panel and the bolts that needed to be attached to it. She glanced up at him for a few seconds, before heading back towards the encasement. He looked to be upset by all of this, which was the first warning that something might go wrong in all of this, from him. "I think that we really do have the right to be afraid, something about this makes me uneasy. We don't know enough this time."

"Well I'm sure that Tommy feels the same way. Is this the first time that you have ever felt this worried?" Hayley asked, now crawling underneath the steel paneling and pushing the plate in front of her.

For Billy to worried, she knew that it had to be serious. He had seen more of these things than she had and he seemed to be truly concerned about it, which surprised her a little bit. He had always been confident when he talked about what he had done with the rangers, but this time, he didn't seem to have to same confidence that he always had. There was something missing, but what was it?

"Yeah, Zordon's not here to tell us what to do and how to do it. We're on our own this time and we've never done anything like this before," Billy said and the two of them decided to concentrate solely on getting the panels finished by morning. That alone, was a big enough task for the whole ranger team, so it was possible that it could overwhelm them, within a few minutes if they were not careful. They would be able to continue their conversation later, but it would have to wait for the time being.

AN: Thanks for reading and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I decided it would be best to split the building of the command center into two chapters, so stay tuned for the next one!


	5. The Morphing Grid

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**XRachX:** Thanks for the review and you'll see what happens with Alpha later.

**TrueRomantic:** Okay, I'm going to break the news to you now that it will be towards the end of the story. Sorry about the wait, but I hope it will be worth it.

**Daniaryezel:** Thank you for the review and I'm glad that you have enjoyed the break in between these two chapters, since it does happen to be a little too much to digest at one time.

Now, on with the Story!

_Hayley's POV _

We worked all night to get those last panels on line, but we finally finished it about five minutes ago. I am so tired that I barely have the strength to pull myself out of the crawl space and head up the stairs to fix some breakfast, for all of us. I really don't know what I would have done if Billy hadn't been here last night. Kim and Tommy would have either fallen asleep or they would have caused an explosion in the basement if they had worked much longer last night.

So, you can see why I needed him here so much and I was really glad that he came at about two o'clock this morning. Otherwise, I might have caused an explosion, but I don't think there is any need to mention that to Kim or Tommy, not for a couple of years. I misconnected some wires and the alarms started going off, but lucky for me, Billy pulled me out and dove under there, to quickly fix the problem, before we had a catastrophy. If we tell them, then they might object to us making them get some rest last night and the last thing we need is the two of them mad at us this morning, when there is so much work left to be done.

"If I ever have to go through another night like that, so help me I will…" Hayley said cutting herself off, as she no longer had any idea of how she planned to complete the half true threat.

She was exhausted, filthy, irritated, and worn out, but happy that they had finally finished the last panel, as it left only one more project to do, before the command center would be complete. If Tommy and Kim had been able to get sufficient rest, then they would be able to start working on the morphing grid today and hopefully complete it by this evening. Although, Tommy and Billy thought, it would take much longer than that.

"You'll what?" Billy asked with a smile and then gave her a hug and a kiss on the forehead, not minding the dirt.

Hayley, out of the kindness of her heart, had consented to be the technical support staff for the new rangers, as Tommy and Kim had no expertise in this area and he would be miles away in Angel Grove. Whether she liked it or not, she would most likely be doing this for a long time to come. It just came with the job description and he hated to break that sort of news to her.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it won't be pretty. I can promise you that much," Hayley said, playfully pushing Billy away, as he was covered in the same materials as she. He, however, didn't seem to care about how either of them looked or smelled as it had been a few weeks since he had visited Reefside and he had missed her more than she could imagine. She had made him a better person, although he had never told her that. It didn't seem appropriate, especially with the type of work they were doing now, even though he knew it was one of the highest compliments he could give her. He just wasn't sure if he was ready to put all of himself back out there, yet.

"Do you think we should wake them up?" Billy asked, as they emerged from the basement, into the semi-dark kitchen.

The house still seemed to be dead, although it was eight o'clock and the sunshine was billowing in through the sheer curtains in the living room. There was not a single appliance running and no sound was to be heard, besides the air conditioner that was running full force. It seemed that not a soul in the upper part of the house was awake, which meant that they had been able to catch up on their rest. Now if they could only pry them out of bed, to get them back downstairs to work some more.

"Not without fixing breakfast. They are both going to be starved," Hayley said, knowing that if they didn't Kim and Tommy probably wouldn't eat, and they needed to. They had too much to do today, without having to make a trip to the hospital because of one of them fainting from malnutrition.

"Go get a shower and I'll work on breakfast," Billy said, knowing that Hayley felt positively disgusting and would prefer to take a shower and change before continuing their work.

He didn't really care about how he looked or smelled because this was not the first time that he had been in such a condition, although it had been several years since he had been like this. On the last mission he had been on, it was a wonder that the other rangers didn't force him to take a shower, but his mind had been preoccupied by other things and they were not willing to make him mad, not then at least.

"Thank you," Hayley said and headed towards the downstairs bathroom. She was so happy that he understood she needed this for her sanity, just as much as anyone else's that day. A good shower always refreshed her in a way that no amount of sleep could and she was thankful for that at times like these. After about thirty minutes she emerged, a new woman, hoping that the morphing grid would not be as hard as Tommy and Billy anticipated it to be. According to them, they would be lucky to get it finished by Monday, but Hayley was hoping that they were wrong on this one. Of course, they hadn't been wrong on it before now, but there is a first time for everything, isn't there? "They awake yet?"

"No," Billy said, pulling a pan-full of eggos out of the oven and placing them on the table. His culinary skills were limited to anything that could be simply put in the oven with a timer, and left alone. After that he had no clue what to do. Thank goodness, that it seemed like Tommy's cooking skills weren't all that great either. Otherwise, Hayley would have walked back into a kitchen with no food prepared. He had to admit he was surprised Kim hadn't stocked the shelves better, but then he remembered that they probably hadn't been eating at home over these last two weeks, if they ate anything at all. "Do you want to get them up?"

"No, you can. You've known them longer than I have," Hayley said with a smile, as Billy pulled off an oven mitt and playfully threw it on the table. She knew that she couldn't deal with either of them if they woke up grumpy. Billy, on the other hand, could manage to deal with them, somehow. She could only guess that it was because this was how they all showed up to school many days, although she imagined that he had his bad days as well, after all he was only human.

"Alright," Billy said, heading towards the other flight of stairs and after climbing them, towards the master bedroom. He was a little bit apprehensive to barge in and wake them up, but they were really going to need their help today. Last night they had been able to manage by themselves, but the morphing grid was a great deal more complicated and it was far too heavy for Hayley and he to carry and position correctly. When he walked into the room, he saw Tommy had fallen asleep on the edge of his bed with his feet still touching the floor. He looked to be in the same clothing he had been wearing the day before and seemed to have not gotten a shower last night either. Kim, however, was no where in sight, but he couldn't imagine the two of them having a fight last night. They didn't have the energy to spare for something like that, at least from what he had witnessed the night before, but he could always have imagined that they were not as fatigued as them had seemed. "Tommy, wake up. It's time to go back to work."

"What time is it?" Tommy muttered, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head back and forth, trying to overcome the reality of having to wake up. He finally sat up and looked around to see that he had not taken a shower and that Kim had not come in there to sleep last night. The only thing that he thought could have happened was that she fell asleep in the bathtub, unless she had woken up before him and he highly doubted that. She would have woken him up if that had happened and it didn't look like that had, as Billy was coming to wake them up. It was certainly going to be funny when he saw her, after spending a night in the bathtub.

"It's about eight o'clock," Billy said, as Tommy walked over to his closet and grabbed the oldest pair of jeans and a T-shirt that he could find. The clothes he was wearing positively reeked, to the point that he could not even stand the smell of them anymore, which meant he had no choice but to change clothes. Although, that would mean another pair of clothes that needed to be washed later on this weekend. As he looked at the floor, he realized that was going to be the next job tackled, once the command center was finished. Kim was not going to be happy when she noticed the loads laundry littering the floor, although he had not thought about laundry until he saw the floor. "Do you know where Kim is?"

"My guess is she fell asleep in the bathtub," Tommy said, as Billy's eyes widened and he gulped. He had not thought when he agreed to wake them up that he would have to get Kim out of a bathtub. It also helped prove the point that the two of them had been on their last mile and would have crashed soon, if they had not been forced to go to sleep. How was he going to get himself out of this mess? Tommy didn't look like he was going to offer to wake her up, but he was going to try to get him to, somehow.

"Tommy," Billy said, as Tommy laughed at his reaction. He then went over to the bathroom door and knocked several times. He planned to stay there until she answered, even if she was mad when she woke up. He, however, was not going to barge in on her or he knew he would suffer the consequences, even if he was her fiancé.

"Crap, it's cold," Kim said, as she jerked out of her peaceful slumber. Surely, she had not slept there all night, but one look at the window told her that she indeed had. This was not good, she hadn't realized that she had worn herself out this much over the past two weeks, but it was now obvious that she had. Now, if she could only pull herself out of this tub and stretch out her back, as it was aching from the position she had slept in. As she began to stretch, she caught a sudden cramp and to keep from swearing asked the other question that was on her mind. "Tommy, why didn't you wake me up?"

"Because I went to sleep as soon as I hit the bed. Come on, we've got a busy day ahead of us," Tommy said, as heard the water splash, which signaled she was finally hauling herself out of the tub. To think that they were both so exhausted that neither had awoken from the awkward positions they had slept in, this was very odd, even for the two of them.

"I never want to do that again," Kim said, walking out of the bathroom, covered by a long, beach towel. This happened to be the only towel she could find and it reached past her mid calf, but that was still too much skin for Billy.

Billy took that as his cue to leave. He did not want to see anymore, although he did vaguely remember when they had switched bodies, but that was one memory as a ranger that he had tried to push from his mind. He still had not succeeded in doing that, though, no matter how hard he tried. Right now, he was having a vivid image flash through his mind and he excused himself from the room without another word. He did not want to relive that memory, if he could help it.

"Same here," Tommy said, going into the bathroom to take a quick shower and to shave. He hoped that it would wake him up some, as he still needed it a little bit. He was never truly awake until he had taken a shower and they both knew that. That was why he usually took the first shower in the morning instead of Kim, as he was prone to be late as is and she could usually guarantee he would get out of the house on time if he knew she was waiting for him to finish his shower. "You sore?"

"Sore doesn't cover it Tommy, and I think that I will have permanent water wrinkles after staying in there so long," Kim said, scrounging around for some clean clothes, but coming up empty handed. It was now showing how much the most mundane chores had been neglected since Tommy's unexpected arrival and the announcement of Mesogogg's presence. Everything had been dropped and it would continue to be that way until the command center was up and ready, which would hopefully be by Sunday night.

If not, Billy would have to take off work more now than he needed to, as Kim and Tommy had to be in attendance for in-service, there was no choice in that matter. If they did not attend, they would risk losing their jobs, and neither could afford that now, not with the extra expense the wedding was going to be on them. They decided they wanted to pay for most of it by themselves, although their parent's were going to help with some things.

"No, you won't, but I think this bathtub will have a permanent dirt line," Tommy said, laughing as he leaned over to inspect the bathtub, which certainly had a ring of dirt about three inches from the bottom of the tub. He could only imagine how much dirt he had on himself and he had not been in the crawl space. He could not wait to scrub himself clean, although he would be going back into the same circumstances in only a few minutes, but it would help some.

"Tommy," Kim said, warningly as she slipped into the cleanest dirty clothes she could find. She felt disgusting, but knew that washing the clothes would most likely have to wait until tomorrow or even the next day.

Coming back to California had been a mixed blessing, getting away from Richard was wonderful, but something still made her feel very apprehensive, like he could always come back. She pushed that thought from her mind and looked around the room, it was a complete and total disaster area. Well, the least she could do was try to pile the clothes up and carry them downstairs. That would be a start in getting their life back to as normal as possible.

"I'm just joking, jeez. I didn't know that this was what being sleep deprived would do to you," Tommy said, hopping into the shower and standing there for a few moments before grabbing a bar of soap and a wash rag. He was glad that his hair was shorter, as it would have taken forever if it were longer to wash and dry it, although he had to admit he missed Kim playing with it. There were lots of things he missed from the old days, but there were many new things that he enjoyed about what he had now, namely having her back in his life.

"Tommy, don't you go there mister," Kim said, rounding up the dirty clothes and walking downstairs. She seemed to have a little time to spare and could hopefully get a load started before they had to start working. She knew today was going to be a stressful day, to say the least. Billy and Hayley had been awake all night, so their nerves would certainly be frazzled this morning, while Kim and Tommy were in pretty good moods, considering everything that was going on in their life right now.

"Alright Kim," Tommy said, hoping that she was still in the room. He was really wondering if he was ready for all of this.

They had all decided that he would be the mentor, with Kim and Rocky doing most of the side work. Sure Jason or Zack would have done a great job, but they needed someone who could live in Reefside and that wasn't possible for either of them right now. They hadn't been able to construct a teleporting grid, but Billy and Jason were both working on it. That job, was a far second from just getting everything up and running, which had to be completed soon, very soon. They were running out of the precious amount of time that they had been given by Mesogogg.

"Kim, did you really?" Hayley asked, seeing the back of Kim heading towards the laundry room. The pile of clothes was almost as tall as she was which made it look like the clothes had legs, not that Kim was carrying them. Billy had come down and mentioned Kim sleeping in the bathtub, but she couldn't believe that. Kim could not have been that tired as to sleep in water for the whole night and not notice it at all.

"Yes, Hayley. Tommy was too tired to wake me up, so I stayed there all night," Kim said, walking into the kitchen and Hayley caught the first glimpse of what Kim was wearing that morning. She had seemed to manage to find the cleanest clothes in their house, but her hair had not been attended to and was merely pulled back into a very messy ponytail. She had never seen Kim like this before and was surprised, as her hair was lumpy and the clothing had more stains on it from grease than Hayley had imagined it would ever have had in her lifetime.

Kim then saw that Hayley had made breakfast. So much for skipping that meal like she had planned to do that morning. Hayley must have figured out that they wouldn't eat unless they made them and she was correct in that assumption. Tommy and she would have preferred to starve until the entire project was completed, but Billy and Hayley seemed determined to keep that from happening.

"Did you at least get some rest?" Hayley asked, pulling out the butter and syrup and placing them on the kitchen table. She had also pulled out a half-full milk carton and some orange juice, as she was not sure what to fix Kim or Tommy, as their coffee supply had run out this morning at about four o'clock, which was not a good thing for any of them.

"Yes, if I hadn't Billy would have witnessed a murder," Kim said, as Billy walked into the kitchen. He had been picking up the extra laundry that Kim had dropped, which was no surprise because of the stack she had been carrying.

"Well, I witnessed enough, thank you," Billy said, as Hayley gave him an odd look, but Kim's cheek flushed a pale pink. She hadn't realized that she had made Billy uncomfortable, but she should have known he had always been rather uncomfortable about that, ever since they switched bodies he had been like that if he ever knew she did not have on any under garments and this was only the second occasion he had ever seen her in a towel. He hated what it did to his mind and wished it would go away, but it still had not done that.

"Sorry Billy, I forgot it would bother you," Kim said, as Billy smiled, as acceptance of the apology. Kim would always be one to apologize for something like that, even if she had done nothing wrong, except forget about what had happened a long time ago. He only wished that he could do the same.

"It's alright," Billy said, sitting down and he then pushed a plate towards Kim. She had yet to fix herself anything to eat and if she did not start eating soon, he knew that she wouldn't. He had known her far longer than Hayley and she was surprised at him pressing her on this issue. "Eat."

"No, we better wait for Tommy or he won't eat himself," Hayley said, as Tommy walked into the kitchen and sat down in the seat next to Kim, then leaned over to give her a kiss on the cheek. He still could have used several more hours of sleep, but what he had gotten would be enough for the time being or so he hoped.

"I didn't know we had so many clothes," Tommy said, pointing into the laundry room. He had thought that there were no clothes left in the house, after Kim lectured him about having to shop for new clothing. As most of his acceptable clothes had been destroyed, not that he liked to remember any of that. Now he just had to find time to go to some place and pick up some khakis, as he already had enough shirts or so he hoped.

"Tommy, if I had known that this was going to happen, all of our clothes would have been clean before we started working on this," Kim said, looking from the laundry room, over to Tommy. He knew how to get her riled up and calm her down within a matter of seconds and he was succeeding at doing that this morning. Although that didn't seem to be his intention today, he was just lacking as much sleep as she was at the time.

"So today's not laundry day?" Billy asked, as Kim and Tommy shook their heads no. They had never set a quote 'laundry day', but from now on they certainly would, as to keep this from happening again or so they hoped.

"No, usually I do laundry every day. That is about two weeks worth or even more. I don't wear as much clothing during the summer," Kim said, noticing that some more shirts were lying in the kitchen floor and sighing, as she did not want to get out of her seat. Billy noticed them too and went over to pick them up, as Kim looked rather reluctant to have to stand up again. "Thanks Billy."

"What are friends for?" Billy asked with a smile. Now might be a good time to tell her what she would be doing for the day, although he doubted that she would like her assignment. "And besides, you'll be the one crawling around under the panels today. I think Hayley developed claustrophobia last night."

"Fine, I'm glad that I never liked these clothes," Kim said, looking down at the jeans and T-shirt. At least these were old clothes; otherwise, she would not have been happy. She had tried to keep her newer clothes from being ruined, but she still had managed to ruin a pair or two, which did make her mad.

"Do we have to eat breakfast?" Tommy asked, as he picked around the eggos and finally took a bite. He appreciated them cooking breakfast, really he did. But they didn't have any more time to waste if you asked him. They had already wasted time by letting them sleep in as late as they did.

"Tommy, just eat. We're going to need the energy later and you know that," Kim said, as she had already cleaned her plate and was waiting for Tommy to finish his food. He seemed to be the only one at the table, who was not willing to eat the meal at all, which was odd for Tommy. He would usually eat, unlike her, when she was stressed about something of this magnitude.

"Okay," Tommy said, as he quickly shoved the food into his mouth, as he saw that he was not going to win this battle with her this morning. He was just anxious to get down there and finish the work, but he could not explain that to her. They then headed downstairs, to begin the tedious work of installing the morphing grid.

"What do we need to do?" Kim asked, as Hayley and Billy were standing over the grid, trying to figure out how best to install the grid into its spot. The third and fourth panels had been left empty and the grid would be installed in these two panels. They had already done some preliminary tests and it seemed that it had been assembled correctly, so far, now they had the toughest thing to do, which was actually doing the installation.

"Kim, we need you to crawl in between the third and fourth panels and help guide us on positioning this monster," Billy said, as Kim looked at him for a few seconds and then turned to go into the crawl space without a complaint being uttered. She was not going to like being stuck under there all day, again, but Hayley obviously did not want to go anywhere close to it, not that she could blame her. She wouldn't have done it, if it hadn't been for Tommy's gentle prodding and reassuring smile."You'll also have to do the additional wiring."

"Okay," Kim said, as she disappeared under the panels, into the little world she had gotten used to over the last few days. At least she could think while she was under there, if nothing else.

"Tommy, we need you to enter the dino gem codes into the morphing grid. I didn't understand the order that they needed to be put in. Your instructions weren't exactly clear," Hayley said, as Tommy took the list from her and began punching in the numbers for each dino gem. He just hoped that he got it right the first time. Otherwise, Billy and Hayley might kill him for the additional work they would be doing, to undo his accidental mistake.

"Billy, would you mind passing me a wrench. I'm gonna make sure that everything is tight under here before we put that grid in," Kim said, looking up through the hole and saw a wrench heading her way, along with a look from Billy that guaranteed he wished he would have thought of that. "Thanks."

It took them several hours to get the initiation sequence done on the morphing grid, but once it was, they were ready for the installation. They could only pray that nothing went wrong, because if it did now, they would have to start from scratch and they didn't really have time for that now.

"Okay, Kim, tell us when we are exactly over the hole," Billy said, as Tommy and he carried the morphing grid over to its slot. The monster had to weigh at least one hundred pounds and both of them were glad that they were not having to lift it alone, otherwise it probably would have been dropped.

"You're good," Kim said, after telling them a few vague directions as to which way to move the grid. They then settled the grid into its slot, now her real job would begin.

"Kim, can you do the wiring by yourself?" Billy asked, knowing that it was a lot of work to do, in a very limited amount of time. This grid had to be hooked up within the next few hours, if they were going to get it activated this weekend.

"I can try," Kim said, as she began connecting the wires to their counterparts in the back of the grid. She knew that she had all the time she needed, but the sooner she got it done, the sooner they could finish everything else. They still needed to clean up the mess they had made, in order to make it presentable when they tried to convince some teenagers to become rangers. It took her about thirty minutes to finish the task and crawl out from under the encasement, now they just had to see if it would all come on line. If it didn't, she would be heading back under the encasements, to do some additional work.

"Who wants to do the honors?" Hayley asked, looking at the three former rangers. She did not want to be the one to flip the switch; it should definitely be one of them. They had been there from the beginning and they deserved to start this new team up, on their own, without her doing anything as the morphing grid came to life.

"Billy, it should be you," Kim said and before he could object Tommy had seconded the motion. Kim and Tommy felt that they were doing enough and maybe this would repay Billy for all of the work he had done and would continue to do for the new group of rangers.

"Alright," Billy said and he went over and punched in the start up code. The panels came to life and they waited, holding their breath to see if the morphing grid would power up, within fifteen second it did and they all let out sighs of relief. The job was finally done and now they had a command center for the new rangers to call their own.

"We did it," Kim said, looking up at Tommy, happy tears forming in her eyes. They had both had their doubts, but now it was finally coming true. "We actually did it."

"Yeah, we did," Tommy said, giving her a hug, as the two of them laughed, with the happiness filling his heart. Billy and Hayley were just as happy, but they were already heading towards the final task, to clean this place up.

_Space Station _

"Andros, I need to go help the rangers," Alpha 5 said to the red ranger, trying to convince him. He had been helping up there for the past few years and had been closely monitoring the Earth rangers and their problems. They had done a splendid job, so far, but there would soon come a time when they would need his back up and he needed to be there for them.

"Alpha, I don't understand. They aren't in any danger," Andros said, looking down at the robot and wondering what exactly Alpha knew that he didn't know. The rangers would have contacted him if something went wrong, wouldn't they?

"Yes they are and Zordon would want me to help them, please let me go," Alpha said, as he looked around their command center. It was well equipped and Alpha 6 was there real maintenance person, not him. Tommy and the other rangers would soon be dealing with a trouble they had no clue about. He needed to be there to help them, no matter what Andros said.

"Alpha, we will have to wait and see. If they are in danger, I will let you go," Andros said, wondering if he should contact Tommy to see what was going on down there. He hadn't been keeping up with the occurrences that had been going on with the Earth rangers, although he had heard some vague details about their last mission from Alpha. It seemed that they had defeated one of the greatest evils known to ever roam the universe, but now there was another one out there. Could these rangers ever catch a break?

"It may be too late by then, but as you wish Andros," Alpha said, walking over to the database, and beginning to pull all the information he had gathered on Mesogogg. He was sure that Mesogogg would not stay in the shadows much longer and that he would be heading back to Earth soon, if the Space Rangers weren't attack as well.

_Mesogogg's Lair _

"Master, they have finished their work," Richard Myles said, having teleported into Mesogogg's lair. He had met him a few years before and had immediately become interested in his job. It was only a perk that he was now spying on Ms. Kimberly Hart and whoever that man was. He had been doing this for years, but now his information was going towards the greater good or what he thought was the greater good.

His mission had started two weeks before, on the night that Tommy Oliver unexpectedly came back home, to the woman he loved. He was supposed to have been killed in the explosion, but he had somehow survived and he was now causing problems. He had the dino gems and had been busily working on building, something, over the last few weeks. He had not been able to enter the house, to see for himself.

If Kimberly so much as saw him, she would possibly try to kill him herself, which would only make him use the powers that Mesogogg had given him. This Oliver fellow did not seem like he would be hard to dispense of, but his master seemed to think differently. This was the man that she had refused to leave for him? It almost made him laugh, at how foolish she was being. Pretty soon, she would be begging him for forgiveness and he would be able to have her or so he thought.

"Good, now you must make sure that the girl is taken care of," Mesogogg hissed and then sent Richard back into action, to see what type of havoc he could create.

AN: This is the end of this chapter. I hope that you have enjoyed it. Feel free to review!


	6. Work Begins

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**TrueRomantic:** Thank you for the review and I'll try to keep it up.

**Daisyz:** Yeah, Richard is going to be a real creep, besides a few other things in this series.

**jedi4jesus19:** I'll try to and I hope that this chapter is out soon enough for you.

**Daniaryezel:** You're right, this story will be packed full of surprises, but as I said at the beginning, Richard is going to be a key character in this story and Mesogogg's evil plan. 

**hhsmajorettearg:** Alright, thanks for telling me that and I've come up with a solution to that problem, without having to redo the whole chapter.

**XRachX:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you like the little glimpses of Alpha.

**AN:** In the previous chapter, I forgot to edit out the word 'but' after Kim appears in the beach towel. Sorry about that, but it is too much of a hassle to go back and change it.

Now, on with the Story!

_In-service at the High School _

"This is definitely a change for the worst," Dennis Alderway said, as his fellow science teacher walked up beside him and silently listened to his complaints about the upcoming year.

Tommy Oliver had been lucky to avoid meeting the new principal until today, but she was certainly not Principal Strigner or someone that Principal Strigner would have chosen as his replacement by any means. She seemed to despise everyone and the teachers were sure that the students would not warm up to her anymore than they had over the past few days. To put it simply, she was a bitch; there was no other way to put it and they didn't try to find another way to describe her, although they had said this in the many languages that they knew. If she ever wanted to hear what they thought about her, all she would have to do was listen to them during their lunch break. She'd get the picture.

"Dennis, it can't be that bad," Tommy said, as they walked into the auditorium, for their first meeting of this long week of what could be torture. At least that was what he gathered from Dennis, as that was the only teacher he had talked to since he had gotten back. They would not be allowed to go to their classrooms until after lunch, but for some reason Tommy doubted they would even be allowed to go there then, which really ticked him off to no end. His situation with the dino gems had kept him away from school, but even if the island hadn't exploded, he wouldn't have been able to come to the school until today. He hadn't been expected to get back until last Thursday, but that was unexpectedly changed, when Mesogogg showed up and his whole world was turned upside down, again.

"You know that I'm usually optimistic, but I can't be about this. Tommy, you haven't met this woman and once you do, trust me you'll understand," Dennis said, as they took seats at the back of the auditorium.

They had always caused disturbances in the past and thought that it would be best to stay away from the other teachers, knowing that they didn't want to get anyone else in trouble on their first day with the new warden of the school. Many of the other teachers were at least ten years older than them and didn't have any of the same interests that they had, that is what brought them together at the beginning of theirrespective teaching careers. Now, it had formed into a friendship, one in which their colleagues respected and that allowed them to be more rambunctious than most others. At least they were enjoying their jobs and they planned to share it with everyone else around them, which would help brighten the day, if it got too bad.

"Dr. Oliver, how have you been?" Amanda Williams asked. She was one of the senior literature teachers and had been one of the few female teachers who had not thrown herself at him when he first started teaching there.

She was a petite woman, in her early thirties and she was single, but not desperate, by any means. Tommy had become one of her best friends and when he had proposed, two years earlier, she had been happy for him, unlike some of the other female staff, who then started avoiding him at all costs. He was obviously in love with the woman and whenever they got married, she would be there to celebrate, not to grieve for something she felt that had never been anyone else's. No, she knew that Tommy's heart had never been anyone else's, but they would not listen to her, no matter how hard she tried to explain it to them.

"I've been better, Amanda," Tommy said and she caught a hint of worry in his voice. She had heard about what had happened to him while getting his doctorate and was grateful that he had made if back to all of them in one piece. Him being the sole survivor was scary, but she was glad that he had survived, otherwise this school year might have been a living hell for her, as he happened to be his sanity sometimes. He always was able to find some bright side to most situations, but this would be a tough one, even for him, as Dennis had pointed out to her earlier this morning when they had collided with each other in the hallway. "This last summer was hell, what with the island exploding and all. I'm just glad that I got to come back to Kim, it would have killed her if something had happened to me."

"You were lucky, Tommy," Amanda said, as a woman with short black hair stepped onto the stage and glared out at the teachers, trying to make them feel her presence, which Tommy most certainly did. Tommy soon understood what Dennis had been telling him earlier and had a feeling that this went further than just being a horrible principal. She seemed to have some other reason to be at this school and being the principal was just the way to get in, without anyone thinking of her having another reason to be there. He couldn't help but be suspicious, as Mesogogg had been too quiet and that could only mean he was taking time to rally his troops or worse, create monsters that his rangers would have to battle.

"Wanna sit with us?" Dennis offered and Amanda took a seat next to him, as Tommy smiled, but held his tongue about their building relationship. It had been obvious to him before he left, but neither had mentioned their feelings to the other from what he knew.

The three of them watched as the woman began pacing the stage, in her black stilleto heels, waiting for complete silence before she started the obvious speech she was planning to make. This did not look like it was going to be good, for any of them; even the veteran teachers' looked apprehensive, which was a first.

"Hello, faculty, I am Principal Randall and that is exactly what I expect you to call me, at all times," Principal Randall said and noticed that several of the teachers were looking at her with clear disdain, others with shock at her declaration. She didn't look to be much older than Tommy and he had never had the guts to tell them to only call him Dr. Oliver, this was just ludicrous and the beginning of his dislike for Principal Randall.

They had called Principal Strigner, Mr. Strigner, or Randy, depending on how long they had worked there, but this was just ridiculous, in all of their minds. They were supposed to call her 'Principal Randall' all of the time. Had she lost her mind? The children were definitely not going to like being ordered around like this and they were sure to show it much more clearly than they were going to, for awhile. They had to give the woman some respect, but even theirs was going to be limited, as they did not like being talked down to.

"Yikes," Amanda mumbled, as Tommy and Dennis snickered at her comment. Maybe she just wanted to appear this way and then she would slack up some later, as everyone got more used to her, but her next statement laid it in stone that she was not going to change her ways any time soon.

"Now, this year is a new beginning for all of us and I hope that you will soon get used to my policies. My first policy is that there will be absolutely no tardiness to school, for anyone, under any circumstances. If you do not arrive to school on time, be prepared to pack your bags and leave within a week. My second policy is that you must give one test a week, on the subject you are teaching, no exceptions. These children should have to know what they are learning…" Principal Randall said, as many of the teachers started to tune her out.

She went on to list about fifteen more policies, each more ludicrous than the one before it. Soon she had the entire faculty ready to file out and go find the school board members, to demand an explanation for why they had hired such a crackpot principal. Then she dropped the next bomb, which thoroughly enraged Tommy and his two friends.

"Finally, there will be no working in the classroom for the remainder of the week. We are lacking in too many areas and you should have worked on your room over the summer," Principal Randall said and she saw a teacher with short black hair and glasses stand up and proceed to walk to the front of the auditorium, fists clenched in anger. Her last statement seemed to make him mad and she wanted to see what he had in store for her, after all none of them knew about her other life. This couldn't be any worse than Mesogogg's treatment of her, although she might be taking that thought back by the end of all of this.

"Principal Randall," Tommy said, as the other teachers looked shocked. They had, had some rough times with Principal Strigner, but even then Tommy hadn't gotten mad. He had always been the one to smile, take a deep breath, and then do whatever he had to do. Of course, he had not been in Reefside for the majority of the summer and had not had a chance to work on his room at all. The teacher that had replaced him had left it in decent condition, but he still had some work to do to get it back like it had been before he left and now she was telling him he couldn't work on it. There was no way he was going to sit back and take it, not this time. "You can not tell us that we are not allowed to work in our rooms, especially when some of us have been getting our degrees over the summer."

"I'm sorry, I missed your name," Principal Randall said, taken aback by the determination evident in this man's eyes. He looked positively irate and she was sure that this was the person her master had been talking to her about, at least she didn't have to go searching for him, he showed up on his own. She, however, didn't like him being mad at her, but she was sure that she could handle him without too much trouble. He was only a small obstacle in her master's plan for this planet and she knew that all too well. Tommy couldn't do anything to stop Mesogogg, from what she knew, although she was very wrong.

"Dr. Thomas Oliver," Tommy said, not offering a hand to the woman. He wasn't sure if he ever wanted to talk to her again and he didn't want to ever touch her if he could help it. She seemed to give off this aura of hatred towards him and he wanted to escape from her sight as quickly as he could. She seemed to know too much about him and he didn't want to think of what she could know, as the only secret that he held was one that could get him killed if the wrong person knew about it. "Now, I am willing to do everything else you ask, but try and fire me when I go to my room this afternoon. You see, the science department is not behind, neither are any of the other departments in this school and the county is short teachers, so you can not get rid of one, no matter how hard you try."

"Well, Dr. Oliver, you may want to watch what you do or I will make it miserable here for you," Principal Randall threatened, as Tommy merely shrugged. He had more important things to be doing at the moment and she was wasting all of their time. If she really thought that she was going to scare him with that empty threat, then he had news for her; it wasn't going to happen. He had heard far worse threats before, ones that usually ended with someone saying they would kill him if he didn't give up his powers.

"Go ahead, it can't be any worse than what happened to me a few weeks ago," Tommy said and then returned to his seat.

He was mad, no actually, he was furious, but he had somehow managed to not throw something or break something, which was definitely an improvement. Dennis and Amanda looked at him in shock, but they could tell that Principal Randall had definitely pushed his buttons this morning and she was lucky that he had not thrown anything at her. They had been unfortunate enough to see his anger in action and he had a deadly arm when he needed to have it.

"Tommy, you alright?" Amanda asked, as he sat down on the other side of Dennis. Several of the other teachers, looked questioningly at him, but looked away when they saw how mad he truly was. If this principal was able to unnerve the calmest faculty member they had, it was not going to be a good year, for anyone at this school.

"I'll be fine, as long as the bitch lets us work on what is really important," Tommy whispered, as Principal Randall had already began lecturing them on some other little problems she saw with their teaching styles. It was not wise for her to do this, as some of the other teachers were beginning to think that what Tommy had done was a very good idea and that they would follow his lead, although it might not be today. That would just be a little bit too risky for their liking.

"Told you so," Dennis muttered, as Tommy glared at him before turning his attention back to the 'principal'. Principal Randall continued to lecture them for the next three hours, but when she let them go for lunch, she told them that they would be allowed to work in their rooms that afternoon. She wasn't sure if she was ready to go up against Dr. Oliver right now, especially if she was supposed to gain his trust, which seemed to be impossible.

_Elsa's Lunchtime Visit_

"Master, he is one of my employee's," Principal Randall said, as she transformed into Elsa. She hated her job and was definitely going to try to make it miserable for all of her employees, especially Dr. Oliver. How Mesogogg had convinced her that this was best, she didn't know. She did know that she hated being around unruly teenagers and this Dr. Oliver character just seemed to be a teenager, who happened to have a doctorate. If he was able to make a ranger team with the dino gems, there was a good likelihood that he would be one of the rangers and he did seem to qualify for the job.

"Well, maybe you will be able to get out of him what he did with the dino gems," Mesogogg said, he had picked up the energy bursts from Tommy's home, but had determined that it was not the dino gems. It was something else, something that was not as important to him as the dino gems or so he thought. The command center under Tommy's house meant nothing to him, as he had never really thought of anyone trying to make a group of rangers to defend the Earth against him. He had heard about them, but their mentor had been dead for a long time and there was no way to make any new rangers, all of the power sources had been harnessed, according to his research. Although there was one essential piece of research missing, Tommy's. "I still have not been able to find them and I have been trying for the past three weeks."

"Yes master, I will find out," Elsa said and then returned to the high school. She would have this afternoon to make her plan and tomorrow to start executing it, as the children would start coming on Wednesday, for orientation and school would really begin next Monday. She was working on a tight schedule, but hopefully she would be able to do this, as failing Mesogogg was not a good thing.

"Tommy, you have guts," Dennis said, as they walked down the hall towards their respective rooms. Tommy had always been the strong, silent type, but he guessed after nearly losing his life that the silent part went out the window. Or maybe the silent part was just pushed aside for awhile, as something else seemed to be tearing at Tommy's nerves. That something seemed to have nothing to do with school, which was scary with Tommy. It could mean that he had anything up his sleeve from what he knew about Tommy's life outside of school.

"Don't tell me you weren't thinking the same thing," Tommy said, as he opened the door to his classroom, to find a bunch of flowers sitting on his desk. He knew Kim wouldn't send him flowers, unless she had done something wrong and she would surely leave a card if that had happened.

"Looks like you have a secret admirer," Dennis joked, before heading into his room, which was across the hall. Tommy had, had his fair share of secret admirers before he had left. So this wasn't the first time presents had been left on his desk, flowers, however, where new. He usually was given candy, which he merely shared with all of the other teachers, but he would never tell his students that. He didn't want to hurt their feelings too much.

"Not another one," Tommy moaned, trying to find a card, but there was not one in sight. That was definitely odd, usually these girls wanted him to know who they were. Obviously this one didn't. "Funny, there's no card."

"Why's that funny?" Dennis asked, having finished all of the work on his room the day before. He had been working up there on and off over the summer and had somehow managed to finish his room early, for once.

"Usually these girls want me to know who they are. Good thing Kim isn't here, she might go crazy," Tommy said, pushing the flowers to the side of his desk. He looked out at the arrangement of the desks and sighed. He hated the configuration that the last teacher had made with the desks and knew he would have to move them. After a few minutes of working, he left his room and recruited Dennis to help him with the laborious task.

"How's she doing?" Dennis asked, having worked with the brunette on a project during the last school year. She was a spunky little thing and it didn't surprise him that she had enough energy to teach school and gymnastics every day, but she was head over heels for Tommy and everyone knew that. They also knew that it wasn't a very wise thing to talk badly about him in her presence, as she was prone to letting her temper get the best of her in a situation like that, as was he, if he was pushed.

"She's doing good. She still doesn't want to let me out of her sight, after that fiasco," Tommy said, as they settled one table in its new position, they only had about fifteen more left to move. His classes rarely filled all of the desks, but they needed the extra room for some of the labs he had planned. He tried to have at least one lab per chapter, but sometimes that didn't work out so well, especially if the class was unruly.

"Do you blame her?" Dennis asked, as Tommy laughed. This was a typical answer from Dennis and he had definitely missed the jokes that the two of them had shared over their job, as well as their personal lives. "How's the dojo been?"

"Rocky's been handling that, I haven't had a chance to get back in there. I had some things I had to get done at home before I could start working there," Tommy said, avoiding eye contact with Dennis. Like most of his friends, he could tell when Tommy had more to hide, just by looking in his eyes. That was why he would often times glance away when he told someone something that was only half true.

"Honey do list things?" Dennis asked and Tommy mock glared at him. Kim probably had, had a list, but it had never surfaced, not after what he told them that fateful night. Nothing else had been worked on besides the command center and all of the other rangers knew that.

"No, not those type of things. It's stuff that I wanted to do, for once," Tommy said and the rest of the afternoon continued in the same fashion. The two of their lives mirrored each others in such detail that it surprised Tommy that Dennis hadn't been a Power Ranger as well, but him not living in Angel Grove helped explain that.

_The Dojo _

"Mr. Oliver, it's good to have you back," Charlie Hughes said, as his sensei walked into the dojo, carrying his usual black duffel bag and briefcase. Rocky had done a good job filling in but for him, Tommy was definitely worked them a little bit harder and he liked his teaching style better. Tommy made sure that they learned something, even if it was just how to get off the floor quickly, without being struck again.

"It's good to be back," Tommy said, excusing himself to the locker room, to change out of his, uncomfortable, school clothes. There was no way he could teach a class in khakis and a polo shirt and he wasn't even going to try it. His advanced class usually worked him as hard as he did them, but he was never going to tell them that. He liked for them to think that he still had a little bit more energy than them, although they often times tired him to the point of near quitting, right before he managed to beat them. They were the ones that had improved the most over all of the time that he had been here and he hoped that Rocky had kept it up with them and it seemed that way from the first glance. "Stretch good, I plan to work you hard today."

"He's back," Ashley Meggs said with a smile, as she walked up to Charlie. She was the only female in this class, but had been working with Dr. Oliver since his very first class that he had held here. The boys were her friends, but a lot of them took on the big brother mode with her, around anyone but them. Out of the ten or so students that happened to qualify for this class, Charlie and she had been there the longest.

Three of the students had joined while Tommy was away and they weren't sure that they could take to his teaching style easily. He was a nice guy, but he would work them until they could barely move and some days she had crawled off of the mat and into the locker room. She had not missed those days at all, but she had missed Dr. Oliver, although she wouldn't admit that to most of the people in this class.

"Amy, sweetheart, if you ever want to learn this, you have to concentrate," Rocky said, as he noticed one of his students was no longer watching him, but watching Tommy go into the locker room. He had seen this happen enough that he knew it was best to address it as soon as he noticed. Otherwise, the student would get far behind, very quickly. Tommy always seemed to be the biggest distraction to new students, even bigger than Kim when she was in the dojo, but he had to admit that it was pretty close. The boys looked at Kim and the girls stared at Tommy, well some things never change.

"Who's that?" Amy Tillery asked, peering up at Rocky. She was the same age as Charlie and Ashley, all of them being sixteen, but had started taking classes much later than they had. She had been making good progress and was hoping to move up to the advanced class soon, but that would mean passing through Rocky's class and it was much harder than the last one she had been in.

"That's Tommy, the other owner of this gym," Rocky said, as a few of the students peered at him before turning back to Rocky, it had been a long time since they had seen him, but he looked the same. After awhile they got used to how he looked and no longer stared at him, although there were a few that never seemed to get over the initial shock of meeting him face to face. "Now, let's get back to work."

"Umph," Ashley muttered as she hit the floor, her long, dark blonde ponytail covering her face, before she tossed it back over her head. Charlie had just kicked her feet out from under her and she was struggling to stand back up and face him again.

Tommy hadn't been joking when he said he wasn't going to go easy on them, they had only been sparring for only ten minutes, but she was already exhausted. Of course, it didn't help that she couldn't think of hurting Charlie, some of the other guys she would not have a problem doing this to, but he was a different story.

"Charlie, go easy on her, alright?" Tommy said, noticing that one of his star students was seeming to have an off day, but that was to be expected from all of them every once in awhile.

He had been sparring with some of the newer students and could tell that they were a little bit shocked by his approach. If you did something, wrong you would wind up on the floor and Tommy would then pick you up and tell you what you did wrong. Soon, they learned to block his attacks and then he let them practice on each other. He did not want to make them hate him on their first day of practice with him, he might wait a few practices before he did that.

"Alright," Charlie said with a smile, as he helped Ashley up. He had a crush on her, but the two of them were too much like brother and sister for him to act on it, with her dark blonde hair and beautiful brown eyes, he had a hard time trying to keep his feelings completely platonic, which he was sure Dr. Oliver had noticed. He had been giving them curious glances while they were sparring and he wondered how much longer he would go without saying something. He was a lot closer to Dr. Oliver than most of the other students and he knew that meant he had noticed his peculiar actions much faster than most other teachers would have. "You want to go again?"

"Charlie, I have landed on my ass more times today than I have when I've sparred with Dr. Oliver," Ashley said, looking up at the strawberry-blonde haired boy. He was about eight inches taller than she was and he actually filled out his frame, unlike most of the boys she knew. He reminded her of a lot of good things that happened to her, because of him being there for her. She didn't know when she started falling for him, but she had and it was more than obvious to all of them, except him from what she could tell.

"Well maybe he should start teaching," Tommy said, walking over to the two of them. He had seen the connection over a year ago and was surprised that Charlie hadn't said anything to her, but it was obvious that their friendship meant more to him than to try to ruin it. He hated to admit, but they reminded him of Jason and Trini, he only prayed that they didn't make the mistake of waiting ten years to tell each other. They both regretted waiting that long, but they were not wasting any of the time that they had left. "You mind if I steal him away to spar against me?"

"Sure," Ashley said with a smile, watching Dr. Oliver and Charlie spar was one of the best events to happen in the gym, besides Rocky and Tommy sparring. Rocky had been beat on a weekly basis by Charlie, but it was obvious that he wouldn't be doing that against Dr. Oliver for awhile. He may have been on some strange island for a year, but he still had the technique down and within five minutes, Charlie was sitting on his ass, for the first time that night.

"Now, why don't you try it," Tommy said, as he paired the two of them up again. She looked apprehensively between Tommy and Charlie, she knew that he had confidence in her, but she did not have confidence in herself. Not if she was going up against Charlie. "He's just a boy, Ashley."

"Dr. Oliver, I know that," Ashley said, taking her position on the mat, with Charlie directly across from her. She didn't understand why Dr. Oliver wasn't sparring with her today, but let it go as tiredness. She sparred with Charlie for less than a minute before he had her on the floor, only this time he did not have a triumphant grin on his face. There was something else there, as he helped her up and put his arm around her, like he had so many times before. He didn't suggest that they go at it again, but just stood there with his arm protectively shielding her from the others. Tommy then called the class to an end, but pulled Ashley and Charlie aside for a moment. He had a proposition for them.

"Listen, at the end of the school year we're going to have a tournament here and I need a coed pair, would the two of you be willing to do that?" Tommy asked, as they looked at each other and then back at Dr. Oliver. What exactly did he have in mind? Had he not seen the same practice that they had today? Maybe that island had got to him, in some other areas of his life, like his usually good judgement. "You don't have to tell me today, but I'd like for you to think about it."

"We will," Charlie said and then headed to the locker room to change before he went home. He knew that it would mean more time for them to be around each other, and that was scary, as he knew that he was having a hard enough time hiding his feelings already, but it could also give him an excuse to tell her.

_Home, at Last _

"Whew, that was rough," Tommy said, walking in at six o'clock, to see supper was already on the table. Not only was today his first day back at school, but it was also his first day back at the dojo.

Rocky had done a great job with scheduling the classes, as to not conflict with Tommy's new schedule. Tommy would only be teaching the advanced classes, while Rocky took the rest on full time. Both knew that if they were going to be able to pull off getting this new ranger team together, that Tommy could only have one class and it would have to meet mostly on weekends, although they did have one weeknight meeting and that happened to be every Monday. Kim's gymnastics lessons were twice a week and lasted for about three hours, but the gym had enough room for both classes to exist in harmony, thank goodness.

"Really?" Kim asked with a smile, as she set the other plate on the table. He looked exhausted, but it had been a long time since he had been in the gym, so she wasn't too surprised. Whenever he had not sparred for awhile, he came in exhausted and was usually sore the next day, but they were both used to this by now. He, however, looked happy to be back into teaching, at the dojo at least. "How was school?"

"Well, I got to meet the new principal," Tommy said, sitting down at the table, after giving her a kiss on the cheek. He didn't feel as if he had to censor his opinion with her and told her exactly what he thought of the woman. "Kim, that woman has to be evil. There is absolutely no way that she can be good."

"Tommy," Kim admonished, he really shouldn't be talking about his boss like this, although this wasn't the first time she had heard someone describe the woman as such. She was just surprised that Tommy felt the same. Usually he gave people the benefit of the doubt, but that didn't seem to be happening this time. There must have been something else that changed his mind about her, in only a few hours. "She can't be that bad, she might have just had a bad day."

"No, Kim, from what I have heard she is like this all of the time. She has a whole list of rules for us and she basically dared us to not follow them," Tommy said, as he served himself. This was the first real meal he had eaten since he had gotten back and he was glad that Kim had tried to fix some of his favorites. She had been especially thoughtful since his incident, but he knew it was because she was still extremely worried about him and it would take her awhile to get over that. He was used to having to deal with problems like this, although he couldn't admit that to anyone but her. She was the only one that wouldn't judge him when he got out of bed in the middle of the night to check on some little noise, they couldn't risk the little things that others took for granted and they both knew that. "Even Dennis and Amanda think she's bad."

"It'll be fine Tommy. I don't think Mesogogg would try to invade your workplace," Kim joked, but saw that even this did not lift his concern. Mesogogg had been too quiet for both of their liking and they only wondered how much longer it would hold out. He was going to get anxious one day and then they would have to get a ranger team together, whether it was them or someone else. If they could find new rangers before he came along, then they would be happy. If they couldn't, then they would go back into action, no questions asked. "Well, if she's really that bad, maybe you should just avoid her. That's what I do when I don't like someone."

"Too late for that," Tommy said, keeping his eyes on his plate. He really didn't want to see the disappointment in her eyes tonight; he just couldn't deal with it. He knew that he had to tell her the truth, but the look he would get from her was not what he needed tonight. He just needed her to listen to all of it and not try to take sides, which she might very well do. "She pissed me off."

"Well, I guess there is nothing you can do about that now," Kim said, her first day back had been easy. She wouldn't start gymnastics lessons until tomorrow and Ally had agreed to be her assistant. After they told her, about what was going on, she more than willingly took the position. It was going to be rough for the next few weeks and Ally could handle the classes if something did call Kim away, but Kim was hoping that Ally would be willing to take the job full time. Last year she had barely made it by and it was definitely going to be rough this year, as the enrollment had increased by nearly twenty girls.

"You didn't send me any flowers, did you?" Tommy asked, as Kim looked at him as if he had lost his mind. She was never going to set foot in that florist shop again if she could help it and she also knew he wasn't the flower type. He had always preferred a card or something, never flowers or candy. "That's what I thought."

"Why do you ask?" Kim asked, as she had a feeling that she didn't really want to know. The girls at the high school had done some pretty crazy things before and she had a feeling that this was another thing that had come from them.

"Well, someone sent me some flowers," Tommy said, with a sigh, "and they didn't leave a card."

"Not another one," Kim groaned, as Tommy laughed. After they finished their supper, they went into the living room and lounged for the rest of the night. It was good to have a lazy night, as it had been far too long since they had done this and they knew that it could possibly be the last chance they got for awhile. Whenever Mesogogg showed up, they would have to change their activities, to go around everything that happened with him.

AN: I have just recently found out what Principal Randall looks like, so I know that I could be more descriptive, but I don't have the picture cemented in my mind, yet. Thanks for reading and feel free to review!


	7. Discovering The Rangers

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**XRachX:** I'll try and it will be a few more chapters before Alpha appears again. As for the flowers, well you'll just have to wait and see.

**TrueRomantic:** Thanks for the review and here's the new chapter!

Now, on with the Story!

_The First Day at Reefside High (Tommy's POV) _

At the high school, my students slowly walked through the halls, each heading for their homeroom and what they thought was their sure doom at the beginning of the school year. I was lucky enough to get a bunch of sophomores for my homeroom class this year. Many of the students I would be teaching later on during the day, but the first thing I had to do was take roll, as dictated by none other than Principal Randall.

One of the students looked familiar and I couldn't remember who she was, until a boy walked in with a camera a few seconds later. Then I remembered the day she had barged in on my proposal, this was surely going to be interesting, and I wasn't sure if I could keep my cool if she asked prying questions. The little girl had been lucky that Kim and Jason were there to forcibly pull me away by the time she asked the question. I have never been a big fan of people video taping my life, as there are quite few things I do not want the greater part of the public to know about, at all.

"Good morning, class," Tommy said, as the students stopped their chattering and looked over at him. The girls' out of pure awe at how handsome this man was and the boys out of the fear that he could beat them to a bloody pulp. It was well known that he taught karate, as well as science, which some people thought was geeky, but they wouldn't dare say that to him. Under those clothes, they knew was a body of all muscle and none of them were brave enough to go up against him, except maybe McKnight and it wasn't exactly bravery with him either, more like the lack of using his common sense. "Now, I know that all of you have had a busy summer and want to talk to your friends, but there are the usual housekeeping things that we have to do. I'll go ahead and tell you that your new principal is Principal Randall and she plans to have an assembly in about twenty minutes, don't ask me why because I don't know. She tells us very little about her plans for all of us, including you but never mind that. Now, for the roll. Ford, Kira."

"Here," Kira said, putting her hand up to make it easier for the teacher to locate her. She seemed nice, but none of the other signals were anywhere close to her. Was it possible that they weren't even friends? He then called a few more names before he got to the next person that he would soon be considering to become a ranger.

"James, Ethan," Tommy said.

"Here," Ethan said and he was easy to spot, as he sat by himself. He seemed to get along with the rest of the class but wasn't a jock or an artist, so he didn't mix quite as well. Tommy had his doubts about all of them, but they did seem to be some of the strongest people in their individual groups.

The thing was their groups did not hang out together, at all, from what it seemed. It was going to be rough to convince them to be around each other if they could not even willingly talk to each other in class. Being a ranger meant you were around the other rangers a lot and he knew that all too well. Jason and he hadn't gotten along at first, but then they were forced to get along and now they were best friends, go figure on that one.

"McKnight, Conner," Tommy said, scanning the room. The other two had been in different groups, so what would make him any different.

"Here," Conner said, throwing his hand in the air for a half second. He then went back into the discussion he was having with his friends about the upcoming soccer season, which made Tommy wonder if his scanner was working correctly. He did not seem capable of becoming the red ranger, but Billy had assured him that this scanner would work and he trusted Billy or at least he thought he did, until now. Conner definitely did not seem to be the brightest apple in the bunch, by any means.

"We have a little while before Principal Randall is going to call us, so is there anything you want to know, about this class?" Tommy asked, leaning back in his chair and looking out at the class. He was sure they had quite a few questions for him, so the least he could was answer them truthfully, before class truly started.

"Dr. Oliver, are you married yet?" Cassidy asked and she watched his face turn to one of pure hatred, before he quickly wiped away the emotion. She was going to have to learn not to mess with him, as he was likely to lose his temper if he wasn't careful. If the absolute worst happened, he could always go across the hall and talk to Dennis for a few minutes, until he regained his composure. Then he would go back in the room and calmly answer her questions, until she ticked him off again and that time he would probably have to leave and just go grab Kim away from her kindergarteners.

"No, Cassidy, but I will be getting married right before Christmas," Tommy said, staring the girl down. If she was bold enough to ask another question, then he was going to embarrass her, if he could. She seemed to be impossible to embarrass, but he would try anything to get her to shut up, although he knew it was wrong to embarrass a student. Cassidy, however, did not seem like a normal student, at all and that made him much more willing to do what he was thinking about.

"Oh, to the woman who has been living in your house?" Cassidy asked and before Tommy could answer her, Kira piped up in his defense. Tommy was surprised that she was coming to his defense already, but the girl seemed to not like Cassidy as much as he disliked her. Well, at least he would have that in common with her, but the other's he hadn't found any common links to, yet.

"Cassidy, leave the man alone. It's none of our business," Kira said and it became obvious to Tommy that Kira was definitely more strong willed than he had first imagined, but the small detector he had brought with him signaled her as the new yellow ranger. So, she didn't exactly act like most of the past yellow rangers, but she did seem to have their quiet confidence and a few other things, that would help her, as she was going to be the only female ranger in this group, unless another dino gem showed up.

"Yes it is," Cassidy said, clipping the words very sharply. She was still expecting Dr. Oliver to answer, although he seemed to be paying very little attention to her right now. He seemed to be intrigued by what Kira was saying to her more than anything else that was going on. "We have the right to know what is going on in our teacher's lives."

"But only if they want to let us know what is happening, Cassidy," Kira said and before it could escalate any further, Principal Randall called them to the auditorium, for the beginning of the year assembly. They had not had an assembly like this last year and they could only hope that it wouldn't bore them to death, as most of these assemblies did.

"Hello, students and faculty. I am proud to be here at Reefside High School, but I am sure that you will notice some changes around here," Principal Randall said, as she looked around at the teachers, from what she knew there were several new teachers and she thought it necessary to introduce all of them to the students. It was the absolute least she could do for these students, as she would be no help for them. The teachers were showing their great dislike of this assembly, but none of them had acted out, as of yet. "I would like for all faculty to come to the stage and introduce yourself, so these children will know who all of you are."

"Damn, Oliver, you got these girls drooling over you," Dennis said, as he was walked behind Tommy on the way to the stage. He had noticed that several of the teenage girls were staring at his friend and he thought it might be something that would lighten the mood. Principal Strigner had never made them do anything like this, but she wasn't him and that was more than obvious to everyone in the auditorium.

"Dennis, girls are the reason I almost lost Kim, before. They have to learn or I will teach them," Tommy said, being the next to last teacher to file on stage, working from right to left they announced their name and subject that they taught, with the students merely watching, until it was Tommy's turn.

"Dr. Thomas Oliver, sophomore homeroom, and upper level science teacher," Tommy said, being brought out of his daydream by Dennis's elbow. Several of the students looked shocked and Tommy wondered why, until he realized that Principal Randall was calling him to come over to where she stood. He wanted to turn around and run, but was unable to get his feet to cooperate with him, as he began to head towards the principal. He knew he could not openly disrespect her in front of the students, but in front of the faculty was a different story.

"We are very lucky to have Dr. Oliver back with us, after the horrible accident that happened to him this summer," Principal Randall began and Tommy immediately snatched his gaze down at the woman. Where was she heading with this? Surely, all of the students knew about him surviving the explosion already, so why was she reiterating the event now? He didn't really want to remember it, but having her mention it again only made it more fresh in his mind. By the way, how did she know about it? From what he knew she had only moved to Reefside a week before school started and by then the rumor mill would have calmed down about the explosion. "Please do not treat him any different because of this, as I expect that it might have rattled him a little bit."

"Thank you, Principal Randall," Tommy said, with the clear disdain coming through in his voice. If she was trying to make him mad again, she was doing a very good job, but he was not going to explode in front of the students. He then turned and headed off the stage and the other teachers followed, although Principal Randall had not dismissed them. He had become the silent leader of their revolt and Principal Randall did not like that at all.

"Well, now to the new rules that will be used this year," Principal Randall said, surprised that the teachers were going to openly show their disapproval of her. It didn't really matter to her, as long as she was able to do her other job, which was keep Tommy in her sights, but he didn't seem like he wanted to have any contact with her. She went on to talk about the dress code and everything else, which took her the greater part of an hour. During this time, most of the students tuned out and went into la-la land until they were dismissed, to go back to their normal schedule.

_The First Day at Reefside Elementary _

"Honey, I'm sure that you're teacher will be nice," Mrs. Sipper said, walking her niece through the front doors of the elementary school. Her sister had died a little over a year ago and she had been helping out with Meagan ever since. Meagan's father was now a complete and total train wreck and she did not need to be around that anymore than she had to. Meagan had, had a bubbly personality before the car accident and now she was scared of everything, including school, which up until last year she had been happily talking about going to.

"But Aunt Alison, they are all so much bigger than me," Meagan said, crying and clinging to her aunt's legs with all of her might. She was a little bit small for her age, which could cause some problems, but this was just kindergarten after all, how bad could the kids be? She was sure the teacher would pay attention to those types of actions, but she might have to warn her, just in case.

"Sweetie, that doesn't matter. You are a special girl, I'm sure that they won't say anything to you," Mrs. Sipper said, squatting down next to her and a petite, brunette made her way over to her newest student.

Kim could tell that she was a little bit worried about school, but she hoped that she would be able to calm her nerves as easily as possible. Several of her other student's had come in crying, but most had stopped and were happily playing now, thank goodness. She wasn't sure if she was prepared to have a room full of criers this early in the morning, although that had happened to her last year and Tommy had not been at home to sooth away the worries.

"Now, who do we have here?" Kim asked, squatting down and looking Meagan in the eyes. She gave her the warmest smile that she had, as she introduced herself. She had learned early on that it was essential to be friendly with the young ones, if they were ever going to trust her at all. "I'm Ms. Hart, what's your name?"

"I'm Meagan," Meagan said, looking down at her shoes and scrubbing one of the toes against the tile floor. She was not usually this shy, but everyone around her was new and she didn't like it at all. "Are you my teacher?"

"Yes and I think that is a very pretty dress you are wearing," Kim said, not surprised by her attire at all, as several of the parents saw it fit to dress their little ones up on the first day.

She had never understood it, but the parents could do whatever they wanted to with their children. When she had her own, however, they would come on their first day of school in jeans and a T-shirt. There was just no need for the beautifying. They were children and they were bound to mess things up, sometime during that first day.

"Thank you, Aunt Alison bought it for me," Meagan said, smiling up at the woman who had walked in with her. Kim couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the little girls' parents, but she didn't think it was right to pry now, not after just meeting her. Meagan seemed happy enough, a little bit shy, but happy, so unless any problems came up there was no need to know anything else.

"Nice to meet you Mrs.," Kim said, as she extended a hand to the woman. She thought that Meagan might have mentioned her last name, but she didn't want to take a wild guess right now. She sometimes forgot to listen for parent's names, when the child began talking to her. The children were her business, not the adults.

"Sipper," Mrs. Sipper said, noticing the ring she had on her finger and quickly moved her other hand over her mouth.

This was whom Mr. Oliver had gotten engaged to? Wow, did the man know how to pick out a looker, although she knew that it was much deeper than that. The woman was teaching these little babies and from what she knew about her, she was also teaching gymnastics, at Tommy's dojo. He had done a good job picking out a woman to marry and everyone that had met her knew that they both had been very lucky, especially if they knew the whole story of their love affair.

"Did I do something to shock you?" Kim asked, as Mrs. Sipper did not let go of her hand, but examined her engagement ring carefully.

"No, I just…I was the one who sold that ring to Mr. Oliver," Mrs. Sipper said with a smile and Kim realized why she was so shocked. Surely, she had heard about the engagement, but most of the times you didn't get to see the person who received the ring, not like this at least.

"Oh, well I like it a lot," Kim said, noticing two of her students were fighting with each other. She had figured that this would happen, but was hoping that it would be a little bit later on during the day. Oh well, she needed to go break it up or one of them would get hurt and she did not need to make parents angry on the first day of school. "I'd like to talk to you some more, but some of these munchkins are getting out of hand."

"That's fine," Mrs. Sipper said, squatting back down to give Meagan a hug good-bye and saw that Kim was now separating two boys and placing them at different tables. It was going to be a long day, for this kindergarten teacher and Mrs. Sipper felt slightly sorry for her, although she had to be used to it by now.

_The Dojo on a Monday _

"Ashley, what's wrong with you?" Tommy asked, pulling her off to the side, as this was the second week that Charlie had been able to fatigue her in less than five minutes. Rocky had said that it had never been like this, of course he had always paired her with some of the other guys. Charlie had never seemed to be on his 'A' game when he sparred with Ashley, but now it seemed to be going the other way around. The two of them had better talk to each other soon or he was going to start giving some more friendly advice to the two of them. He had already talked to Charlie and his next step was to talk to Ashley, but he knew that the girl might not listen to him, as he was not as good of a friend with her. "Is something going on that you want to tell me about?"

"Tommy, I don't know how to explain it," Ashley said, looking over to see Charlie was watching her, with great interest, his hands sitting on his hips.

After a few moments, he ran his fingers through his hair and turned towards some of the others that were still sparring. He did his six foot build, some good and she always felt short around him as she stood at about five foor four. Why did he have to be so damn cute? All of the others she could spar against just fine, but she couldn't bear to spar against him like this, when she felt that Tommy was really watching her. She couldn't bring herself to hurting him or even attempting to if anyone was watching that would judge her skills.

Rocky had been one thing, as she could spar with him easily, some days. Tommy, on the other hand, always got her good. She never even doubted what would happen when she went up against him. No one did anymore.

"Well, it might be easier if you just tell him everything," Tommy said, as Ashley looked at him wide-eyed. How did he know about that? She had never so much as muttered a word about liking Charlie to Tommy, so she just hoped that it wasn't really that obvious, although it seemed that it was. "It's just a suggestion, Ashley, because I really want the two of you sparring together, but you're not giving him a good enough work out. If this keeps up, I'm going to have to pull someone else to spar against him and I know you don't want that to happen."

"I'll try, Tommy," Ashley said and then returned to where Charlie stood, completely confused. Ashley looked like she wasn't feeling too well, but he would know if she were sick, so what was going on with her?

"You feeling alright?" Charlie asked, as Ashley walked back over to where he was standing. She looked up at him, but couldn't seem to find the words to answer him. All her mind did was scream at her to tell him the truth, but she withheld that emotion for the time being. She couldn't tell him here, not with all of the other guys around. If Charlie didn't feel the same, they were likely to jump him and she didn't want that to happen to him.

"I'll be fine," Ashley said, as Charlie gave her a skeptical look and instead of going back to sparring he put his arm around her and pulled her over to one of the benches on the side of the mats. Tommy could get over it, if it made him mad. He wanted to get to the bottom of this, tonight if he could.

"What are you not telling me?" Charlie asked, as he sat down next to one of his best friends. She couldn't lie to him and he knew just as well as she did.

"Nothing, Charlie. It's just been a long day," Ashley said, mustering up the most realistic smile she could, but noticed that he wasn't buying it. Why did he have to know her so well?

"Too long for you to come with me after practice to get an ice cream cone?" Charlie asked, knowing that he could possibly get her to open up with her favorite ice cream being offered. If not, it would be enjoyable, especially if they got to go to the park, which they usually did when she felt like this.

"Charlie, you know that I'm watching my weight," Ashley said, with the most believable voice she could muster, before bursting into a fit of laughter. They both knew that she had never been one to watch what she ate and found it hilarious when other girls used that line. "Why not?"

"Now, do you think you can stand sparring against me for another thirty minutes?" Charlie asked, standing up and offering her a hand. When she took it, he felt a tiny shock, but didn't say anything about it, as he led her back out onto the mats. She didn't seem to notice it, so he was not going to bring it up to her. There was no need in making her any more uncomfortable than she already was.

"Umph," Charlie said, as he landed on the mat for the first time all night. Tommy watched on with a satisfied grin, as his student looked up at him for some sort of help.

Ashley had been laying it on him since they had talked and now he was the one that had fallen to the floor. It seemed to him that most of the other guys got jealous when he got his ass kicked by Ashley, although he couldn't understand why. It was never pleasant for her to throw him around, although he had gotten her back more than once.

"They doing better?" Rocky asked, walking over, as he had finished working with his class a few minutes before. Tommy had talked to him about Ashley and Charlie, and he had to admit that they reminded him of Jason and Trini, too. Although he had never noticed it until Tommy brought it up to him a few days ago.

"Yeah, but they're still not the way they used to be," Tommy said, as Rocky caught a hint of harshness in his voice.

"They're kids, Tommy. They'll work it out," Rocky said, as Tommy gave him a look that plainly told him that he did not think so.

"They had to push me to ask Kim out, I think I may have to do the same thing with him," Tommy said, as Rocky laughed. He had heard about all of it, but for the role to change this much, was odd, especially for Tommy. He couldn't understand why Tommy was so anxious to get the two of them together.

"How's the search going?" Rocky asked, as nonchalantly as possible. He really wanted to change the subject off Ashley and Charlie, as the other students were likely to hear their conversation and they didn't need them to become involved in this.

"Can you come up to my house tonight? We actually have to discuss that," Tommy said, knowing there was no use in lying to Rocky. They all had been checking in with him about it, almost every day, but he hadn't had anything important to tell them, until today.

"As long as I can bring Ally," Rocky said, rather stubbornly. He knew that he wasn't going to be able to see her much this week and he had promised to come over to her place that night, now Tommy had news that he had to know and Ally might as well find out about it too at the rate that things were going. She knew the bare essentials of the new mission they were undertaking, but it was bound to leak out that there was much more to it that meets the eye. "Kim and she haven't got to talk in awhile and I think she misses it."

"Fine with me, but have her prepared, alright?" Tommy said, knowing that Ally knew only a limited amount and that she might as well learn it all if she was going to come. If Rocky didn't tell her, then she would be asking more questions than ever before and he didn't need that tonight.

"She will be," Rocky said, going into the locker room to shower and change before he went and picked Ally up. He still wasn't comfortable going straight from the gym to see her, as he knew that he did not smell good at all. He guessed that with time, he would become more comfortable with that, but he hadn't, yet.

"Class, I think that's enough for tonight," Tommy said, bringing the sparring to a halt. Many of his students were dripping with sweat, but they looked satisfied with their work and were surprised that Tommy was letting them off early, he had never done that before. Of course, he had been acting a little bit different since he had gotten back from that crazy island he had gone to. It just seemed that weird things had happened to him that he was not telling them about, but they knew better than to ask. "I'll see you on Saturday."

Tommy then went to pick up his clothes and he had to wait for everyone to leave the gym before he, himself could leave. He didn't notice the man that was watching him as he left, but he could feel someone watching him and looked behind him, before climbing into his jeep. He shrugged it off as his senses being heightened because of the recent attack he had been through, they had done this before, so it was normal for him.

"Damn you, Oliver," Richard said, as he transported himself to the Hart/Oliver residence. He knew that they had succeeded in making a power grid and his master was not happy. It seemed that all he had to do was find rangers, which was easier said than done. Now, if he could only cause some distress in Kim and Tommy's relationship that would certainly help a lot and it would possibly slow up them finding the rangers that they desperately needed.

AN: That's all for this chapter and I hope that you have enjoyed it. I know that I am not following the DinoThunder series at all, but it'll all work out as the story goes on. Feel free to review!


	8. Finding the Rangers and Ice Cream Cones

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**XRachX:** Yeah, well they may have some interesting things happen to them as well.

**danhyde girl:** It'll get there, these first several chapters are just establishing the plot and then a lot more Kim and Tommy will com in , I promise. It starts at about chapter 9 or 10, I think.

**Daniaryezel:** Yeah it was a quick update. The drama is not necessarily going to be between the two of them, well in some ways. As for Tommy's time dividing skills, they'll get challenged, as the things heat up between the rangers and Mesogogg.

Now, on with the Story!

_Finding the New Rangers and Ice Cream Cones _

_Tommy's Home_

"Well, what have you brought all of us here for?" Jason asked, as they sat around the living room, eating the take out Tommy had picked up on his way out there only a few minutes before.

Kim was not prepared to fix a meal this big, so Tommy thought it best to pick up the food, knowing that they would eat almost anything he served. They wanted to know if he had found the new rangers, but what he was going to tell them today, might disappoint them some and it might thrill others. It would definitely make all of them feel better to know that someone was going to be handling the situation.

"First of all, to let you see the finished command center. Secondly, to tell you that I think I have found candidates to become the new rangers," Tommy said, as Jason dropped his fork onto his plate, but quickly picked it back up and looked over at Tommy. Tommy had always had a way of shocking him and he had done it, yet again. He had been looking for only a few days at candidates for the new ranger team but Jason should have expected it to take him only a short time to find some rangers, when it would have taken the others months.

"So soon?" Trini asked, having expected it to take weeks, maybe even months to find people who would be receptive to the dino gems.

Of course, it only took Alpha a few seconds to find them so many years ago, but no one brought that up, not now any ways. Alpha had, had so many more advantages than what they had, but there was no way to admit that when they didn't even know how Zordon had selected them or even why for that matter. They were happy that he had, but they were always left to wonder about it, as none of them had ever been brave enough to ask, while he was still with them. Now they wished that one of them would, so that they would know some of the things to look for in the new rangers.

"Well, Billy's scanner was very insistent on three of my students and I did a scan every class period. They showed up every period, although they only have me two times a day. I think they are meant to be the rangers," Tommy said, as the others were quite startled by all of this. If that scanner was so insistent, maybe they needed to listen to it or maybe it needed to be reprogrammed. Although, they had never had a problem with any of Billy's devices before, so who was to say that there was even a problem now?

"This Mesogogg fellow, how much is he like Zedd? Or can you even compare the two?" Adam asked, as Tommy had only described him, as Lord Zedd on speed and that didn't sound good, for any of them.

Actually, no description of the new creature would have sounded good, but that description was not what they had expected. They didn't want to have to face it right now, but they would rather it be now than when they were settled down and had families to take care of, but they knew that might not even be too far in the future for some of them.

"The same old 'I want to rule the world bit', except he seems to have a lot of help and he wants to destroy all the human beings on Earth," Tommy said, as Kim glanced over at him.

He had been much more descriptive with her, but there were some things that were best left unsaid and this was one of those things. They did not need to worry about the technologies that Tommy knew he had, from the limited amount of research Hayley had been able to do. Kim and Rocky, however, did and they were not pleased by any of it. Tommy recognized most of it and that scared the two of them, as he knew what the capabilities were for all of it. They had never known what the capabilities of weapons were until they appeared, but now they were faced with the challenge of trying to find ways to render the weapons useless.

"Exactly how much is 'a lot'?" Trini asked, remembering Goldar and the rest of Rita and Zedd's goons so well.

They had caused so much pain to the rangers that she couldn't imagine another monster like them, but there was always a chance that there could be monsters out there that were very similar to them. There was also the chance that Zedd and Rita would come back, but they tried to ignore that as much as they could, knowing exactly what it would mean for them if that day ever came. No other team of rangers could go up against them; the only ones that could were the ten former rangers sitting in that room and they all knew that.

"We don't know for sure, but he looks to have three or four people that are helping him, at the very least," Hayley said, as she had already started her research on this creature.

She did not have the capabilities that Alpha had, so many years before and thus she needed the extra time to do the research. She was just thankful that he hadn't attacked yet, because they weren't ready for that right now and they may not be for several more weeks, but she had learned that the monsters timing was usually most inconvenient, at least from what the semi-retired rangers had told her. She was not sure if she wanted to believe them about half of it, but they were the best information that she had.

"Wonderful," Aisha said, sarcastically, as Zack grabbed her hand to try to calm her down. She had never been a fan of finding the new rangers, but she especially didn't like it, knowing that they did not have much information to go on. These kids needed to know what they were getting themselves into. It wasn't that she regretted doing this, but she felt they needed to know as much as they could about their opponent, before they entered into this life, because it would last a lifetime. "Those teenagers are going to have no clue what is coming."

"You can say that again," Tommy said, feeling some slight regret for what he was going to have to do. He felt selfish, in trying to get out of the game, however temporarily it might turn out to be for him. Some people may think of him as the greatest ranger ever, but he was human, just like everyone else. He wanted a chance at a semi-normal life, too bad he didn't know that wasn't likely to ever happen, for him or his family. "I just hope that they will accept, I highly doubt that they have ever heard of the Power Rangers."

"Tommy, if they haven't heard about the Power Rangers, then they don't need to become one of us," Jason said, as a few of the others nodded in agreement.

These people needed to have some background on them, on everything, they were getting themselves into, but they couldn't really be so picky right now. They needed some people, who would be willing to step into their shoes and do a decent job, as they would be getting some help from the veterans, whenever they needed it. They had resigned themselves to come back in for the final battle, knowing that the new team would need the extra help, but that final battle would be a few years down the road and by then, they could have everything situated, for when they got the call.

"Jason, I'm not arguing with you tonight. We've got a lot of stuff left to do and unless you all want to be uprooted from your jobs and lives again, this is the best we can do right now. We have to be replaced; it's time that we truly be replaced," Tommy said, as he watched Jason back down, until a time when it was more convenient for them to argue.

They may be best friends, but even the best of friends have their problems and they could all see that Tommy had already been pushed over his limit, by someone today. He had barely been able to recover from Principal Randall's lashings today, so he wasn't surprised at his reaction, but he had some explaining to do to the rest of them. None of them, with the exception of Kim, knew about this boss that he now had and they were not expecting this from him right now, even she looked surprised at how he had acted towards Jason, as he had not seen him act like this in a long time.

"Tommy, are you alright?" Kim asked, as she watched him shakingly run his fingers through his hair and look over at her. He could tell that he had reacted too harshly and was able to transcend that to her in one look, but he knew he was going to have to say something to Jason and the others to explain himself.

"Sorry, Jase, I had a bad day at work," Tommy said, knowing it wasn't an excuse for his actions, but at least it explained it to all of them. Although, Jason would definitely want a longer explanation for all of this later, but he would be willing to wait.

"Okay," Jason said, noticing the tone Tommy was taking with all of this and knew he was right. He didn't want to uproot his life, not again or he was likely to never get another job in Angel Grove. He didn't want to move away from there, not yet at least. Trini and he were happy where they were in life, although Jason was struggling with some things he desperately wanted to do, but couldn't figure out when it would be best. He needed to talk to Tommy, but tonight did not seem like it was going to be a good time to talk about all of this. They had ranger business to attend to before they could talk about his plans. "But at least tell us about the kids. All we know is that they are some of your students."

"Well, they are all going to take some convincing, especially Conner, he's the schools soccer star. Kira is the lead singer of a band and Ethan is a computer whiz. It's just going to be tough, to get kids from different groups to really agree to it. I just hope that they'll at least think about it," Tommy said, as the originals all seemed to know what it was like to have to be convinced. With him, it was not a question, he owed them for everything he had put them through, and when he lost his powers, it was one of the ten worst things that had ever happened to him. The remaining nine all seemed to be tied to ranger activities as well, not that he wanted to admit that to anyone, but he could tell that some of them knew what he was thinking, namely Kim and Jason. "But I think I can do it. If not, I'll let Kim and Rocky give it a try."

"What happens if you can't get them to become rangers? What are you going to do?" Kat asked, looking around the table to see the other rangers were just as shocked as Tommy at the question.

They all knew Kat's position on this; she didn't want any of them back in action and was willing to do almost anything to keep it that way, including suiting back up herself. They were her friends and they had been in danger more times than anyone rightfully should, but they continued to bounce back. This time, however, they were planning to stay on the sidelines, but there was always the chance that they might be called back in again and she didn't like knowing that. She didn't like knowing that the man she loved might go out there without her to back him up, like he had the last time.

"If I can't, then we'll go back into action," Tommy said, looking down at his empty plate, but seeing that most of the others had not finished, yet. Kim now looked to be on the verge of tears and Aisha and Trini weren't holding up too good either. Kat, well, let's just say she didn't look happy at what Tommy had said. " But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, and hopefully we won't have to."

If the truth were known, none of them were happy to hear this. Sure, it had been great to have one last hurrah together, but what happened if that 'last hurrah' had another battle destined to be after it, one that could possibly kill them. They had all known the risks, but as they got older the risks became more real to them, knowing that if they lost a ranger now, they were as good as defeated. They could not function without each other in battle, after so many years of working together.

"Tommy, try your hardest, please," Ally said, biting her lower lip.

She didn't want Rocky to be put in that much danger again and she didn't want him to go through the living hell of losing his powers again. They had just met the last time he went through the withdrawal and if it hadn't been for Kim telling her that this happened to everyone, she wouldn't have stuck it out. Now things were getting back to normal and she liked it that way, they all did.

"Don't worry, I will, Ally," Tommy said with a smile. He knew about the withdrawal, but the only thing that kept him going during that time was that it was a secret and the only ones who kept that secret were waiting for him to get back from his doctorate. So many things could have been different if he had never gone to get that little piece of paper, but he had and if he hadn't they wouldn't have found out about Mesogogg until it was too late to do anything about him. "Any one want to see the command center?"

"Yeah," Jason said, with as much excitement as he could muster.

This was something that was going to try all of them, but they knew it had to be done. Angel Grove wasn't the only place in danger anymore, not that this was a new to them, but now they had another town to look after. Tommy happened to be the one that had gotten the gems, that would make the morphers that could keep them from going back to a lifestyle they loved and hated, all at the same time.

_Ice Cream Cones _

"Now, what about that ice cream cone you promised me?" Ashley said, walking up behind Charlie, and putting her arms around him.

She was still dressed in her karate pants, but she had changed into a black racerback top. He had put on his street clothes, but she could tell he had a lot on his mind today, mainly because his belt was slung over his shoulder and his bag was still unzipped, revealing the sweaty clothes that he had discarded only minutes before. The other guys were watching the two of them but merely shook their heads in disbelief as they continued to try to act like they were just friends, although there was much more there. To anyone that had a brain and eyesight.

"I thought you'd forget," Charlie said, as he took her gym bag off her shoulder and placed it in the back of his truck. Then they drove to the local Dairy Queen and picked up two ice cream cones, before Charlie went back to the park. This was a ritual that they enjoyed at least once a week and something he would miss if things didn't go well tonight.

"I never forget when you promise me ice cream," Ashley said, hopping out of his truck and heading towards the swings, which happened to be her favorites. She beat Charlie to the swings, as she always did and waited for him to walk over to the swings. "Push me?"

"Ashley, I still haven't finished mine," Charlie said, as she pouted at the rejection. Why did she have to do that to him, especially now? He wanted for his mind to be as clear as possible, but all he could see was her pouting grin and he was no longer able to focus, on anything but her face.

"I'll finish it for you," Ashley said, trying to swipe the ice cream cone, but instead landed in Charlie's other arm.

They both stood there, uncomfortable for a few seconds, before he set her back on her feet and let go of her. This was getting more and more awkward as the time went on and if he didn't start talking soon, they might never talk about this. It would have been a lot easier to never say anything, if he didn't have to worry about ruining their friendship.

"No, you won't," Charlie said, as he sat down on one of the other swings. He was so confused, why did he love her so much? Why did he have to fall so hard for one of his best friends, someone that he had known since he was a little kid? Why couldn't it be someone who wouldn't break his heart, if she turned him down? He didn't want to keep living with the questions, but he didn't want to have to start this conversation, as well. "Damn it Ashley, we have to talk."

"Charlie, what's wrong?" Ashley asked, sitting down on the swing next to him.

Something had been eating at him over the last couple of weeks, but he just wouldn't tell her what it was. She had asked his brother, his mom, and even the guys at the dojo, but none of them would budge on what it was, they said she had to hear it from him. The only thing was, what could be that important that she could only hear it from him? They had to know about it, but it was surprising that he had not mentioned it to her, usually when something was bothering him. He talked to her about it, but he hadn't this time.

"Nothing is wrong. No let me take that back, everything is going wrong," Charlie said, staring out at the oak trees, as he aimlessly pushed his feet against the dirt. He didn't have the courage to look at her; for fear that, she would not look at him the same way. She stared at the side of his face, hoping that would will him to look at her, praying that he would explain himself, someway.

"What does everything pertain to Charlie?" Ashley asked, scared to know the answer, be curious nonetheless.

If he never wanted to see her again, she didn't know how she was going to take it. She needed him much more than she liked to admit to herself or anyone else. The only reason she was even thinking about it so much, was because Dr. Oliver had figured it out and he would keep asking about it, until one of them gave him an answer about all of it.

"Ash, I'm worried about us," Charlie said, as he stood up to push her swing. At least she couldn't see his facial expressions this way, which were showing an array of emotions: doubt, fear, happiness, and love, all found their places on his face, but he wasn't sure she needed to see them, when they came through so quickly and each with so much power. He didn't know if he could overwhelm her anymore.

"What about us?" Ashley asked, looking up at Charlie. He looked really worried and she had only seen him like this once or twice, but she couldn't explain why he would be like that now. What could go on with her that would make him this nervous? What had changed between the two of them? "Charlie, you alright? You look really nervous."

"Why can't you spar against me when Tommy is around?" Charlie asked, as Ashley stopped the swing.

He noticed, too? She thought that it was only Tommy who had noticed. Of course, Tommy might have brought it up to him, too. It would explain why when he came back from sparring with Tommy, that he was in a very thoughtful mode. But why would Tommy bring it up to him? Why would he suggest something that would make Charlie think about them? She had always felt strongly for him, but she had never wanted to do anything that would harm their friendship.

"Well, I don't know if it has anything to do with Tommy," Ashley said and she felt Charlie let go of the swing and move around in front of her. He covered his face with his hands and then rested the tips of his fingers over his mouth. If it wasn't Tommy, it had to be him and he didn't like that, at all. He didn't like to think that they were growing apart.

"So what does it have to do with?" Charlie asked, as he sat down on the ground and propped his head against her knee. He was scared to ask what he was thinking, but knew that it was the only way to find out the answer to what he desperately wanted to know. He knew that he was going to have to take this giant leap and hope that his gut was wrong. "Is it me?"

"No, it's me, Charlie. I don't want to hurt you," Ashley said, as Charlie looked up at her, confused.

What did that have to do with anything? They never intentionally went after each other like that, most of the time, at least and even when they did, they always checked to make sure the other wasn't seriously injured. He just didn't see how that could be a problem with their sparring. He had never felt that she would do something to him, why would she suddenly think that?

"Ashley, you won't hurt me, you never have before," Charlie said, shaking his head in disbelief. She always took care when they sparred together and he did as well, hell the other guys always pointed it out to him in the locker room, even Tommy did some times. He took it easy on her and he knew it, but he was not going to go after her the way he did them. He would never do that, not unless she asked him to and she never questioned what happened when they sparred together. Often times, she landed on the mats more than both of them would like, but she always worked him mentally, which was something no one else could do. "And what does that have to do with anything?"

"Charlie, we're too good of friends for me to tell you that. I can't do this," Ashley said, as he looked up at her, with shock evident in his eyes.

She couldn't feel the same way as he, could she? One look in her eyes told him that she very well could and that scared him, but it also gave him some hope and he needed that right now. He needed hope more than he needed anything else to say what would mean the world to the both of them.

"You know that you're making no sense, to me don't you?" Charlie asked with a laugh, as he continued to stare into her eyes. She was determined to not break her gaze with him and as she looked at him, she felt his hand brushing against her bare foot. "Did Tommy talk to you about me?"

"How did you know?" Ashley asked, surprised at his thinking, as she was enjoying the mini-foot massage she was getting, although Charlie seemed to have no clue what he was doing to her.

"He talked to me about you when I sparred with him last week. He seems to think we've been hiding something and I know that I have, for way too long. What about you?" Charlie asked, noticing her shock, but continuing anyway. He had to get this out, even if she didn't want to hear it, but she needed to, she needed to know all of it. He had held it in for far too long as is and if he continued to do that, then it wouldn't be pretty, for either of them.

"Maybe," Ashley said, as Charlie reached up to grab her hand. They felt the same shock that they had experienced earlier this evening, but this time neither shoved it off as a mere coincidence, it was something more. They both had the feeling that it was much more than some simple static electricity.

"Ashley, I'm scared," Charlie said, as she looked down at him. She couldn't think of any reason for him to be scared, other than them messing things up between each other, which honestly scared her as well. He meant more to her than any other guy did and she did not want to risk losing that, but if she did, she could possibly gain something more. "I don't want to mess things up between us."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Ashley asked, but she was unable to read his facial expression. Why hadn't she noticed him feeling the same way before? They spent so much time with each other that it bewildered her why she had never noticed it at all, but some times, what is right in front of you is hardest to see. She was learning that lesson now. "Charlie, Tommy talked to me about this too."

"Same here," Charlie said, with a small smile. Their teacher may have been planning on this happening, although neither one of them ever thought that it would, not for a long time at least. "So, do you want to give it a try?"

"Yeah, I do," Ashley said, looking down at her watch. She hated the curfew that her parents held over her, but if she didn't uphold it, then she didn't get to do anything with Charlie, for a very long time. "We better get going or my parents will start looking for me."

"Okay," Charlie said, standing up and wiping off the back of his pants. "What'll happen next?"

"I don't know. Why don't we just see where this takes us?" Ashley said, hopping on his back for a piggyback ride back to his truck.

_Richard's Report _

"So are you finding anything out about Dr. Oliver?" Mesogogg asked, waltzing around the lair. He had been worried about being able to keep tabs on him, but he had been about to keep up with him rather easily, so far. The man had not been able to figure out that he was being trailed, as of yet, and he hoped to keep it that way for a long time to come. It would be necessary, as things became more complicated there and on Earth as well.

"Not enough, but I have been able to keep tabs on Ms. Hart rather easily," Richard said, trying to hide his obvious interest in Kim. He had really agreed to this job when he found out that Tommy was her fiancé, as to be closer to the woman he felt so much for.

"Well, I guess that'll do since she is with him the majority of the time," Mesogogg said, as Elsa appeared. He could tell there was something more in Richard's past with this woman, but he did not need to know that now. If it got in the way, then he would ask about it. "Do you know what they have done with the dino gems?"

"They are finding new rangers, although it is possible either of them could become rangers themselves. They have done it in the past," Richard said.

He had left to come talk to Mesogogg after the training session at the dojo, wondering if some of the students there would be going up against them soon. They all seemed very capable, but it didn't seem that Tommy was interested in them becoming rangers, although that made no sense to any of them.

"Tommy was a Power Ranger, so were all the people in his house the night he came home," Elsa said, as Mesogogg became livid. Elsa had decided to monitor the little meeting they were having and she recognized many of the people as former rangers, immediately. They had been taught about them when they first came here and she wondered why Richard had never noticed.

"This man will try to ruin my plans! We must destroy him, no matter what," Mesogogg roared, as Elsa and Richard backed themselves against a wall. When he got like this, all they could do was merely say yes to whatever request he was making, however outrageous it might be. "Go, create monsters and prepare them for battle. He will not be able to battle without his powers."

"Yes, master," they said in unison and quickly walked out of the room, to begin their work for the night. They did not want to receive any more cruel treatment from him for today, as they knew it was only going to get worse as the time went on.

AN: Tell me how you like it! I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I'll have a new chapter out pretty soon. Until then, happy reading.


	9. We're What?

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thank you for the review and I'll try to keep it up, but I am going to be going between this series and the "I'm Gonna Cry" story for awhile.

**XRachX:** Rita and Zedd returning is always a possibility, although I can say that I probably won't do that in this series. I can make no guarantees for the other story, as I have not written that far yet.

**danhyde girl:** Richard is the guy that attacked Kim, but you'll see how he gets his own treatment in this story and the next one.

Now, on with the Story!

_We're What?_

_Morning Conversation's_

"Kim, I just don't know how these kids are going to take all of this," Tommy said, sipping on a cup of coffee, while waiting for breakfast to be finished. He loved having someone, who was willing to cook for him and do all the things a wife did, but there were times when he wanted her to stop everything she did for him and let him do something for her, but this was not one of those mornings. He was more stressed about what he knew he had tobe done today than he had been about anything in a long time. The last time he could remember being this stressed was before he proposed and he knew that she knew that. Although, things that had to do with rangers tended to do this to him, he thought he would have been used to the stress by now. Obviously he wasn't, as he tapped his foot against the tile floor. "I mean, we weren't exactly jumping for joy when we got our first powers. What's to say that they won't think we're freaks and turn us in, so we can't help anyone?"

"Tommy, do you trust everything that we have done over these last few weeks with all of this?" Kim asked, as she placed a plate of scrambled eggs on the table. He was more nervous than she had expected him to be, but it would all calm down, sometime soon. He had a way for controlling his nerves, around everyone but her.

"Yeah, but there are still so many things that can go wrong with this, I don't know if I can risk your life again," Tommy said, picking up his glasses and placing them on his face, as he was likely to forget them if he did not do this now. She smiled at him, as he continued to watch her, but she knew his mind was occupied with many things this morning, namely how could he be the least suspicious in the proposition he was going to make to some of his students. Last night, after everyone had left, he told her more about the new rangers and she had to admit that they did not seem to have in common with the first team.

"My whole life is a giant risk, Tommy. It has been for years, but I know that these kids will at least hear you out and if worst comes to worst, we'll suit back up. It is something we've always known could happen since the beginning of all of this, sweetie," Kim said, giving him a peck on the cheek before going to finish the ironing of her clothes. He watched her until she was out of his sight and thought about how right she was. They had not asked to be pulled back into duty two years ago and they hadn't asked for the other rangers to choose them and Jason as the fighters. Tommy hadn't asked Jason to make them talk, although he was happy he did now. She was right, they had lived with risks far longer than anyone else they knew ever would.

"I don't want us to suit back up right now. We're getting married in a few months and the last thing either of us needs to worry about is our communicator going off, saying there is an attack in Reefside. If we don't get the teleportation grid finished, we wouldn't be of any use and I don't want to risk something like that happening," Tommy said, as he began to eat the food off of his plate. This evening they probably wouldn't see each other long, as Kim had to teach gymnastics lessons until seven. He needed to get all of this off his chest, but he knew he could overwhelm her, if he was not careful.

"I know Tommy and I have confidence in you that you will be able to convince these kids to do this. If you need me, you can come get me at any time," Kim said, walking back out in a knee length black skirt, dark pink sleeveless shirt and heels. They had visitor's coming to look at the school and their principal had asked them to dress nice, which was not easy when some teachers had twenty students to attend to, many of whom were very hyper. Tommy already knew that, but he could not believe in asking elementary teachers to dress up and be able to teach, especially if they were running after hald of Kim's class. She had a rough class this year, although he could tell some of them were going to keep her sanity, thank goodness.

"Thanks, but do you really think I have a chance at making these kids understand what is at stake if they do not take this up? What it means to other people, not just them?" Tommy asked, as she smiled at him. She knew he had a chance to convince those kids to jump into their Zords and head off to battle, immediately, if he tried hard enough. If anyone would be able to get them to listen, it would be him. That was why they were willing to put their continued retirement in his hands and not try to talk to the teenagers themselves. He could do the job, but he had to get over the worry of not convincing them.

"Tommy, you can do anything you set your mind to, including convincing these kids to be rangers," Kim said, as he gave her a smile and a hug, before leaving for the high school.

_Afternoon Worry's _

"That is all for today. Please work on the questions at the end of the section and be prepared to turn them in tomorrow at the beginning of the period," Tommy said, finishing up with his Physics class and looking out at the class. He had a mixture of tenth and eleventh graders this period, but the three students he needed to talk to were sitting at different tables, talking to their own friends. Now how was he going to talk to all of them at once, without drawing anymore attention to them than he knew he already would? These students certainly were not going to help him any with his plans as they were, again, sitting far away from each other, but he was used to doing almost everything the hard way and this was going to be no exception.

"Dr. O, can I get some help with this?" Ethan asked and Tommy walked over to explain the problem, glad that this was the last period of the day. He had been think about how he was going to do this all day, but all he could think was to call them together at the end of class. Even that might be too suspicious, but it was better than telling them in front of the whole class, as they might let it leak out to Principal Randall and he didn't need to deal with her today as well.

"Do you understand it now?" Tommy asked, after explaining the details that Ethan did not understand. He was one of the smartest kids in the class and Tommy knew that he would probably be explaining it to the other students that were too afraid to ask him about it themselves. Although he had never tried to intimidate his students, many of them seemed to be intimidated by him, but Ashley and Charlie promised they had nothing to do with it, not that he believed them. Many of the kids had asked them where some of the bruises came from and most days, they had happened to spar with Tommy, although he pushed them more than any of his other students.

"Yeah, thanks Dr. O," Ethan said as the last bell rang. He, like all the other students, was ready to bolt from the campus, but Dr. O had another surprise in store for him, besides the pop quiz, they had taken today.

"Kira, Conner, Ethan, I need to talk to you for a moment," Tommy said, as the other students began filing out. The three of them looked confused to have their names called in the same sentence, to talk to a teacher. What was he up to, calling all of them together, with the rest of the class's full knowledge? They did not like to admit that they even knew each other, but he was forcing them to do that right now.

"Yes, sir," Kira said, carefully picking up her books and walking towards the front of the room. She had never had a teacher do this before and her not be in trouble, but she couldn't imagine Ethan being in trouble for something, so what was it that they were having to talk to him about? She thought that they might have some clue, as she looked at their faces, but they seemed as clueless about it as she was, which did not make her feel any more comfortable about it.

"I need the three of you to meet me at my home in about thirty minutes. It's very important," Tommy said, handing each of them directions to his house. He didn't want to discuss this out of the security of the command center, but he knew he might have to, to get them to show up. He was willing to do almost anything to get them there, although they could not tell that by watching his actions, as he acted as if this was business as usual.

"I don't have a ride," Conner said, hoping this would get him out of doing whatever his teacher had planned for them to do. He had wanted to go home and sleep, as he was going to have soccer practice later that evening. The football team used the soccer field as its practice field, which was most inconvenient for the soccer players, as they had to practice at all sorts of crazy hours. His attempt to get out of this didn't work. Tommy had been prepared to drive all of them to his house, if it was necessary.

"I'll give you a ride," Tommy said, as the others watched in surprise. What did Dr. O have up his sleeve that would possibly tempt him to offer a ride to Conner, of all people? Conner could try almost anyone's patience, especially most adults, but he seemed willing to overlook that right now. There was something important that was going on that somehow included them, as a group. "Can you two meet me there?"

"Yeah, we will," Ethan said, starting towards the student parking lot. He had just celebrated his sixteenth birthday, so he had his driver's license and a car. He was happy that he did not have to ride with Dr. O, although later he would wish that he had been forced to.

"Ethan, what's going on?" Kira asked, as Conner walked sulkily behind them. This could definitely hurt the image he had been working so hard to keep up, not that he dared say that to Dr. O. Not many people would dare cross him, especially if they had ever seen him spar, against anyone. He looked like a nice enough person, but they knew that under that exterior appearance, he was a lethal fighter, according to Ashley and Charlie. They should know, after some of the encounters they had, had with him while being in his class.

"Don't know, but he seems to have something up his sleeve. You need to hitch a ride?" Ethan asked and Kira nodded her head. Ethan and she had been good friends for quite awhile, although not many people knew about it. It wasn't that they were embarrassed to know each other. It was more like their friends wouldn't approve and they cared, up to a point, about what their other friends thought.

"So, Dr. O, what are you going to make us do?" Conner asked, as he climbed into the jeep. He had calmed down some about having to ride with his teacher, but he still didn't really like the idea. It was never a good idea to be seen around your teachers after school, especially if they were like Dr. Oliver and kept as much a secret from the students as he could. If he was talking to him, then Conner had the feeling that he was going to learn much more than he wanted to about his teacher's life, outside of Reefside's campus. "Cool ride, so what's with the girl that Cassidy's been telling us about?"

"Conner, you'll get to meet her this afternoon, since you seem so interested," Tommy said, turning the jeep in the direction of his house. He had the feeling that it was going to be a very long ride home this afternoon. He had forgotten about some of the stupid questions that Conner would ask in class and he just got a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he could not be able to take this very long. He had patience during class, but outside of the classroom, he was not as patient with things like this.

"They have left the premises," Elsa said, looking into the old television that she kept in her office. It might not have been the most technologically advanced communicating device, but it served its purpose and it, also, didn't draw any attention to itself or so she thought. There were not many principals' that had a television in their office, but no one had brought that to her attention as of yet.

"Well, I shall send the tryadrones, maybe they can reek some havoc," Mesogogg said and soon the creatures were landing around Tommy and Ethan's vehicles. Tommy had prepared himself for something like this, only he had hoped that the teenagers would have agreed to be rangers by the time this happened. Now he was going to have to throw it at them. He did not have a choice about that now and he was sure that the other rangers were not going to like this when they heard about it. They had all hoped he would be able to have a nice, calm conversation with them before he gave them their morphers, instead of throwing it to them during a battle, like the one that was about to ensue.

"What are those things?" Conner asked, as Dr. O slammed the jeep into park and began to exit his vehicle. This man had to be crazy; there was no way he was going to go up against those things. The only people he had ever heard of doing something like that was the Power Rangers, and they were from Angel Grove, not Reefside. But hadn't someone mentioned Dr. O came from Angel Grove? No, that must be wrong, he was just a man. "Dr. O, keep driving. We can't do anything here."

"Oh yes we can. We can fight," Tommy said, throwing Conner a morpher. Conner looked down at it and then over at Dr. O. What in the world, was he asking him to do and what the hell was this thing he was holding in his hands? Dr. O wasn't being very clear and from what he had seen about him, he was usually very clear about everything he wanted them to do. This seemed out of character for the young doctor, which only left Conner more shocked about his current position, as Tommy launched himself into fighting the tryadrones.

"Oh my God, what are those things?" Kira asked, as she got out of Ethan's car and headed towards where Dr. O and Conner stood. Well, actually, it was more like Conner stood and Dr. O fought. Dr. O had thrown him something, but it didn't seem to be anything too important, as Conner was only looking at it. Dr. O, however, seemed to be wanting to rip the thing out of his hand and use it, for something.

"I don't know, but we need to help," Ethan said, as they ran over to where Conner was standing. They got there just in time to hear the ultimatum that came along with whatever Conner was holding.

"If you don't want to you don't have to, but once you accept, you're one of us forever," Tommy said, taking on some of the tryadrones. These kids had better decide soon or he would take Conner's morpher away from him and morph himself, if he had to. He could not keep on going up against these things without some powers for a long time, as his residual powers had been destroyed on the island, with the last battle he had fought with these things.

"One of what?" Conner asked, looking at the morpher and watching as Kira and Ethan were thrown ones that were very similar to his, except they were different colors. Hold it, they were going to be brought in on this too? What was going on here that they didn't know about?

"A Power Ranger," Tommy said, taking on the tryadrones, while they stared at the morphers and then back at their teacher. He couldn't possibly be talking about the Power Rangers that saved Angel Grove all those times, could he? But the more they watched him fight, the more obvious it was that he knew about the rangers or had maybe even been one himself, so many years ago. He had to have been out of the game for a long time, but the only thing that had kept him in shape was working at the dojo for all of these years. Even that didn't seem to keep him safe, as the tryadrones were starting to get the best of him.

"How?" Kira asked, being brought back into reality, as Tommy sailed through the air and landed on his jeep. He hadn't gotten all of his sleep back after that week on nearly no sleep and it showed, as he was not able to handle them as well as before, but maybe these teenagers would get him out of this jam, for a little while at least. He knew that he was going to have to fight more than most of the other rangers wanted him to, but he didn't have much of a choice about it today. When Kim saw the bruises that he had already sustained, she was likely to let him have it, but hopefully she would understand after he explained it all. He couldn't just stand there and let the tryadrones run rampant, as they would have done if no one had intervened.

"DinoThunder, power up, ha," Tommy said, very clearly and he watched the three teens morph. The tryadrones attempt to get the Dino gems had failed and they were soon fleeing the scene, in the same fashion that they had appeared. Mesogogg had not been able to stop them from creating a new team of rangers, which was only infuriating him more. Tommy was going to pay, one-day, although it might be a very long time down the road and he was going to make it worth his while when it happened.

"So, we're what?" Conner asked, looking over at their teacher after they had been instructed to power down. He could not believe what was going on and he hoped that Dr. O had a good explanation for it, as merely fighting the tryadrones did not seem like it would be a good enough reason for them to become rangers.

"Load up and I'll explain it to you when we get to the command center," Tommy said and they quickly did as he had told them. They all couldn't help but wonder what a command center was, but they thought it would be best to not ask that question right now. Dr. O did not look to be in any mood to answer anything, not where they were at least. "It's not safe for us to talk about it here. I don't know who could be listening to us."

"Tommy, what happened?" Kim asked, repeating the question that had started all of this. She had cancelled her classes, due to a migraine and had not been expecting Tommy this early, although she had forgotten that he was only teaching one class now. He could tell that she wasn't feeling well, but that she would help him, as she was not to the point of throwing up, yet. Conner looked at her in awe and then back at Dr. O, Cassidy had never mentioned to them that she looked as good as she did. How in the world did he get someone like her?

"It's a long story, Kim. Come on, we need to talk to them about everything," Tommy said, opening the trapdoor and ushering his students and fiancée into the command center. Kim and he were not even phased by the appearance anymore, but it was obvious that his students were awed by it. No one, in their right mind, would expect to find this in their teacher's basement. No one in their right mind would keep something like this in their basement, but they did not tell Dr. O that, as he seemed to take this very seriously and so did his fiancee. It wasn't possible that they had done this together, was it? No one would have been allowed to help, unless they were rangers.

"My God, what is this place?" Kira asked, as Tommy went over to the computer, to find a video. He had made a video diary to help explain where the Power Rangers began, but it did not include most of the recent events with Mesogogg. He did not think it would be necessary to put him in there, as they would have to deal with him on an almost daily basis, if he really was like all of the other monsters he had faced, in the years past.

"It's going to be your command center, if you choose to stay with us," Tommy said, as he started the video and moved out of the way of the screen. The three teens, crowded around the small screen, to watch all of the information about the past rangers spill out. Kim and he both sat down at the back on the command center, trying not to watch it, as it brought back too many bad memories. By the time the video had ended, the teenagers had looks of awe plastered on their faces, as they turned to ask the questions that were buzzing through their minds, to the only ones that could answer them.

"What does this entail?" Kira asked, as they turned around to see that Kim and Tommy were both teary eyed. They would have expected her to be, but for Tommy to be as well, it was just a little much, after everything that had happened to them today. The things that the rangers had been able to do were amazing feats , but how would they be able to do what they had done? They were only teenagers and not very athletically inclined teenagers as a whole. The only one who was, was Conner and he did not seem interested in this proposition.

"Do you want to know the good news or the bad news first?" Kim asked, wiping her eyes, as Tommy had not regained his composure, yet. He had decided to put the days in there when the pink ranger powers changed hands and he could never see that without taking a good deal of time to rid his thoughts of the incident that had changed his life. She knew that they needed to be as honest as possible, if there was going to be even the slightest chance of them agreeing to go through with this.

"Bad," they said in unison. To Kim and Tommy, none of it was bad, except Mesogogg, but to them, it might be different. There was no telling what to think about these teenagers, as they had all been skeptical about it when they were younger and everyone knew that, although Tommy had decided to leave that out of the video diary. They did not need to know about them almost not agreeing, it really didn't need to seem like an option, although it was.

"Well the bad news is that this creature named Mesogogg is after you. Well not you, actually, but the dino gems. That is what made your morphers and gives you the powers that you will find out more about as the time goes on. He wants to send us back to the dinosaur era and I can't let that happen. The other thing is, no one can know about this, it's a secret you live with for the rest of your life," Tommy said, looking at them before he tried to tell them the good news. They seemed to be thinking that the bad news was horrible and the good news would only be acceptable. He just had to get through to them, if he didn't, then he would be dealing with the bruises much more often than this. "The good news is that you can stop it, if you'll be Power Rangers. It is up to you, but I have to know by tomorrow if you don't want to do this. Mesogogg will not stop because we do not have rangers to take care of the Earth. He will use that as his advantage, if we let him."

"So, both of you were rangers?" Conner asked, as the two of them merely nodded. It had been obvious that one of the rangers had always been the leader, although he did not want to admit that it looked like the red ranger in most cases. Who was supposed to be theirs? As he was fairly sure that it would not be him, he had no leadership skills. "Well, who led you?"

"Jason, the red ranger, until Zordon put him in charge," Kim said pointing at Tommy, feeling the pride swell inside of her. She couldn't help it; it always did when they talked about what he had overcame to stay with them and if you asked anyone, it was quite a lot, after nearly destroying everything that they had worked so hard to attain. He, still, had not completely forgiven himself for everythin he had caused, but she was the only one that knew that, as the others would tell him that he had no right to still hold that against himself. They had forgiven him the second he first struck out against Rita's gang.

"So he'll be our leader?" Ethan asked, pointing to Conner. Conner may have been a dream on the soccer field, but other than that, he showed very little common sense or book sense, either. It didn't make any sense why Dr. O would choose him as leader, but it also didn't make any sense why he would be on the team as well, so maybe he knew what was going on better than they did. According to the video, Dr. O had been at this for at least ten years, if not more.

"Yes, I have faith in him and we'll be here to help you in any way possible," Tommy said, putting on one of the best acting shows that Kim had seen him do in awhile. She could tell that he had a lot of doubts about Conner, but that he needed to tell them that he believed in him, otherwise they wouldn't believe in Conner out in the field. They knew that the rangers did not need to have a power struggle going on between them as they began fighting. They had, had that problem for a little while, before Zordon, ultimately, intervened, with a dangerous mission for Jason and Tommy. "But the choice has to be yours, because this is something you will be in for the long haul."

"How long is the 'long haul'?" Kira asked, as they headed back upstairs. It was obvious that their business in the command center was done right now, but there were some more things that they needed to know, so many questions left to be answered.

"Possibly the rest of your life," Tommy said, with a sigh. He couldn't lie to them, knowing that he had been called out of retirement many times and that Kim had been as well. It was just the way things were and they had gotten used to it over the years, but it had always been rough on the newest group of rangers. They still wanted to have a normal life, but the reality was that they would never have a normal life again if they accepted this duty. "That last group of rangers was us, two years ago."

"You?" Conner asked, looking over at Tommy. He did not seem young enough to have been in the first group of rangers, unless he had gotten the powers at age twenty or something. "Dude, how old are you?"

"First of all, never call me 'dude' again," Tommy said, as he saw Kim fighting to keep giggles from bursting out of her mouth. It would have been one thing if Jason or Rocky called him that, but one of his students, she understood how it could push his buttons and him asking about his age, was definitely a sore point with Tommy. "Secondly, I'm only twenty-five."

"How'd you catch someone like her?" Conner asked, as Kira clasped her hand over his mouth. She did not believe in barging into other peoples personal lives, if Dr. O wanted to tell them, then he could, but she wasn't going to force him to and she wasn't going to let Conner do that to him either.

"Don't answer that," Kira said, dragging Conner towards the front door, trying to hide her embarrassment. How was she going to deal with this everyday? It was enough to have to be around him at school, but this after school gig could surely get to her. "We'll take care of getting him home and we'll tell you our answers tomorrow."

"Thank you," Tommy said, grateful that she had been able to stop the embarrassment that was sure to follow Conner's question. Kim would have been willing to retell the story, although him being captured in themiddleof all of it, alwaysaddeddrama for those that didn't know the whole story. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"How do you feel about this?" Ethan asked, as the other two looked at Ethan then looked away. They weren't exactly thrilled about it, but they had to admit that it did seem kinda cool, even if it was a lot of work and they would have to give up many things.

"I don't know, but I'll sleep on it," Kira said. "You going to Hayley's?"

"Yeah, but I'll drop you off at your houses before I head out there," Ethan said, as they climbed into his car. It was going to be a long night, having to decide what they were going to do about this twist of fate.

"Do you think that I got to them?" Tommy asked, as he watched them pile into Ethan's vehicle and drive away from their house and towards the main road. Kim came up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder, when he turned around, she could see that the worry was still there. She had hoped that it would go away once he had talked to them, but it was obvious that it hadn't. Now he was waiting for their answer, at the powers that hadbeen thrush upon them.

"I don't know Tommy, but I can tell you that they will have a hard time turning down this offer," Kim said, as she gave him a hug and felt him cringe. She looked up at him and then turned him around and pulled up the backside of his shirt, to reveal a bruise that spread across the lower part of his back. She knew he had fought this afternoon, but she was hoping that he had not been injured by it. Obviously he was, so much for him going a couple of weeks with out having a ranger related injury. "I'll get some ice."

"Kim, it's not that bad," Tommy said, as he walked after her. Her arms just managed to situate themselves on top of the bruise, otherwise he would not have even thought about it or known that it was there until the morning.

"Tomorrow morning, when you're groaning because it hurts, don't tell me that it is not that bad," Kim said, zipping the back closed and grabbing his hand to guide him into the living room. In high school, when this had happened, the two of them would wind up sleeping on the couch at the command center, with whoever was injured having ice settled on the bruises and the other, curled up against him or her.

"Okay," Tommy said, as she placed the ice on his back and he tried to pull away, but she just held it over the spot. He hated icing down injuries, but it was the only sure-fire way to prevent the full amount of pain form settling in. He could never understand why Alpha hadn't been able to create some sort of balm that would stop the bruises from coming up. As the only thing they had gotten was a balm that made them disappear, but it would be fine if it looked horrible, as long as there was no pain to come along with it. "That's cold, Kim."

"I know, but I don't want you to have a nasty bruise there tomorrow. I've got some papers to grade, but if you need anything, just tell me," Kim said, as she went to get her school bag and then spread the work out on the living room floor. She couldn't help to think at how this time last year, she was moping about Tommy being gone and now she couldn't be happier to have him back, although he did look pathetic tonight. He had always hated having to lay still, icing down a ranger injury.

AN: Tell me how you like it! I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I'll have a new chapter out pretty soon. Until then, happy reading.


	10. Accepting Our Fates

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**jedi4jesus19:** I'm glad that you though some of it was funny and there will continue to be some funny lines throughout the rest of the story.

**danhyde girl:** Thank you very much for the review.

**Ghostwriter:** That's fine, I understand how it gets some times and I'm glad that you have enjoyed it, so far.

**XRachX:** Thank you and now you get to see how much Tommy got them to think about everything.

**KimberlyAnnOliver:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad you think that I have the personalities down as you'll see how they take the spot light in this chapter.

Now, on with the Story!

_Accepting Our Fates _

_Conner's POV_

Tonight my world fell apart. I am supposed to become the leader of the newest group of Power Rangers, yeah right. There is no way that Dr. O and his girlfriend got this one right, no matter how many degrees he has hanging over his desk at school and karate belts he has displayed in his office at the dojo or the gymnastics awards that she owns. I can barely get through classes as is and if I'm going to feel the way I feel now, then I don't know how I am supposed to get through this. After I left his house, I had to go to soccer practice and I could barely function there, which only made my coach mad at me. Dr. O makes it seem like this is some sort of grand honor and that I should be willing to drop everything to do this, bull shit. How is this an honor if I can't tell anyone about it? I can't explain why I'll have to leave practice early, when this darned communicator goes off. I mean, the way it looks, I'll barely be able to make it through a soccer practice without being called off to fight some crazy monster. I don't know if I can do that, soccer is my world, always has, and always will be.

When he gave me my morpher, I had so many questions running through my mind. Namely, why me? Why was I chosen to do this, instead of someone else, someone who actually knew what a Power Ranger was and what they were supposed to do? I guess that this is something that has no logic, at all, as Ethan and Kira were the other two choices to receive these powers. I don't think that Dr. O was looking for athletes, if he choose the two of them. No offense, that they just aren't into sports, but it just didn't make any sense to me. I thought you would have to be in good shape to do all of this, I mean fighting monsters and all takes a lot out of you. But I guess I was wrong, big surprise. I guess it's something that comes from inside of you, like you're born with it, which is kinda scary if you think about it too long. I really didn't want to know that I was born with the will to do something like this, although it does seem interesting, I think that is the word for all of this or maybe it's bizarre.

I mean, Dr. O was one since he was my age or younger and he definitely was different when we first met him than most of our other teachers. I know I was lucky to not have him last year or I would have failed his class and I may still do that this year. Most of our teachers, let the athletes ride, you know cut us slack every now and then, when we get in a tight spot. Not Dr. O. I guess since no one ever let him have a break in life, you know take the easy way out, he thinks that we should have to earn the grade we get. If they had only been allowed to tell people who they were, maybe he would have been treated different. He wasn't treated any different, though. So, he expects the same out of me, as everyone else in his class and I don't really like it, but it proves a very real point. He went through it the tough way in high school and look where it got him, doing something he is actually good at and probably loves. He works hard and it is obvious to us that he knows what he is doing and he plans to make sure that we are in this for the long haul. That 'long haul' could mean a lifetime commitment and I'm not exactly sure I am ready for this, who would be at age fifteen?

Okay, so after the initial anger and questions that ran through my mind. I have decided I want to try it, although hanging around Ethan won't help my image any. I mean the guy is a Geek, with a capital G, but that doesn't really matter anymore. The thing is I know that Dr. O is depending on us to do this for him. He really needs our help to keep them from suiting back up, not that they won't if the call comes. They've prooved that they are willng to do that. It kinda sucks, doesn't it? So, I hope that Dr. O is happy, because I know that I am having to give up a lot to do this. Not that, that would pass as a good excuse to him, considering that he has given up almost everything to be a ranger, except maybe Kim and I'm not even too sure that they didn't have some rough times because of ranger related things. Here's to trying to deal with this crazy task.

_Kira's POV_

Oh my God. That was the only thing I could think when Dr. O told us to morph, nothing else ran through my mind. I didn't have a clue what I was doing or what was going to happen, but once it did, I felt a power surge, like none other I have ever experienced. It was better than the best natural high I have ever gotten onstage and I've had some pretty good highs for performing. Then I looked around at the others and realized that we really were one of them now, although what exactly were we?

Then my mind screeched to a sudden halt. We were one of what! What were we? What have we become? Are we some evil creatures that Dr. O insists are good, but really aren't? Am I really supposed to be doing this and what the hell have I turned into? All of this ran through my head in about a millisecond and then I started fighting. Why? I don't know, my body was yelling at me to, to protect Dr. Oliver, who had just come crashing down on top of his own jeep. Was this urge part of what he had given to us or had it been in me all this time and I never knew it was there? It was scary to be thinking the thoughts that were running through my mind, but I guess this is something I will have to get used to, if I stay.

Well our battle was over as soon as it started, which caused me to worry. Why were we given this if we were only going to use it for a short period of time? The town could look after itself if the battles were only going to last a few minutes. It makes no sense. Absolutely no sense at all why he would do this to us. I didn't care what type of explanation Dr. O had for all of this at that moment. I knew that whatever it was, wasn't going to measure up to what I thought about this whole situation. He couldn't have an explanation good enough for me. That all changed when I walked into the basement of his house, I figured out that the explanation I didn't want, was going to be as astonishing as what I was seeing in front of me.

Instead of the usual old couches and Ping-Pong table, his basement had an almost NASA control center type feel. That was really the first clue I had gotten all day that he wasn't joking about this, that there really was something that we were going to be called to fight, other than the tryadrones. Why had I decided to even hear him out? As this place was really starting to get on my nerves.

On the back wall, were six panels, each containing some sort of functions within them, I guess, I couldn't really tell by just looking. I do get the feeling though that they contain things that will help us as rangers. I continued to look around the room and noticed several other projects were on their way to being completed. Okay, so maybe I underestimated what I was getting myself into, but no normal teenager would think of this being held in his or her teacher's basement. I guess that from now on, I will be more careful about agreeing to go to a teacher's house, of course this was the first time that I had ever been asked to do so. So, I guess I should have known that this would be no ordinary trip for my classmates or myself, for that matter.

Then Dr. Oliver played a video for us. It showed all of the ranger teams, both old and new. I couldn't understand why he was showing us where all of this came from and why it would matter to us now. We went through roughly nine teams of rangers that contained five or six members, and then we came to a team that had nine. They were older than most of the other ranger teams and several of them looked familiar, as if they had been on one of the other teams. As if they were being called back into action, to defeat Nicarni-Aso, which I had never heard about until now. That couldn't be possible, though. I thought that after a ranger retired, they stayed in retirement, but I soon found out how very wrong I was, as the video was coming to a close.

After seeing that video, I knew I had underestimated all of this, by a long shot. All of these people had been given powers to defeat the creatures that threatened to take over the Earth at the time. The first Power Rangers and the last group of rangers seemed to look very similar to each other, their fighting styles I guess, but I couldn't tell exactly how far it went, yet. Then I turned around and there stood the pink and white ranger, looking expectantly at us. Wow, I would have never thought of Dr. O as a Power Ranger, although I knew he taught karate and did a good job at it, according to Ashley. This just seemed like it was karate on speed or something and I am not sure I am ready for that. I'm not even ready for the regular version of karate, much less the hyped up version that I saw the rangers perform, on a daily basis. I have to admit that I am about as athletic as Dr. O's pinky finger, which doesn't seem like it is going to help me at all if I agree to stay with this. All of the previous rangers seem to be very athletic, in one way or another. I do not fit into that mold, at all.

I guess what gets me the most is that they all look happy that they did this, but they all seem to have lived a rather jilted life, after they became power rangers. Dr. O is always running into crazy creatures at the most inconvenient times. He even ran into one while he was working on his doctorate, the one that is currently threatening the Earth now and Kim is having to wait for a marriage that should have occurred a long time ago. All the others, being called back into action after a five year delay in the action they were to receive. They are amazing people, but I am not sure that I have it in me to become one of them. Not now, or ever for that matter.

_Ethan's POV _

My science teacher just dropped a bomb on me. He thinks that I can be a Power Ranger. Ha! I barely have the coordination to tie my shoes some days, much less fight a bunch of monsters. How does he expect me to battle monsters without getting tripped up, over my own two feet no less? It's cool and all, but I'm not sure if I'm up for this. I highly doubt that there has ever been another ranger like me and there have been quite a few rangers over the past few years.

Dr. O doesn't know what he has gotten himself into. The three of us, working together? It's so funny that I am barely able to hold in the laughter. It's not that we don't get along, it is more like we don't even associate with each other during a usual school day and all of the other rangers looked to be very close. I know that might scare either one of them off, for fear of becoming too good of friends with the other people in the group, but it makes sense. If you are fighting along side each other day in and day out, then you have to trust the people around you and that means that you have to be friends or more. It looks like there have been several ranger relationships over the years, the one that has endured the most, happens to be Dr. O's. I just have this feeling that behind the happy exterior, the two of them hold a secret, to a very rough past.

He gave us the choice today, to stay or to go. To keep these powers and help the world or to give the powers back and let the world and Dr. Oliver down. I don't know about Kira and Conner, but I intend to see this through, no matter how much work it takes and what it does to me, and it could do a lot to me. Dr. O obviously needs our help, because all of them are finally trying to retire, for good, which means we need to step up and accept the offer. We can't look back; we have to look forward, to what we are going to do and the people we are going to help.

AN: Tell me how you like! I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I'll have a new chapter out pretty soon. Until then, happy reading.


	11. The Difference a Day Makes

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**Warstock-Leonhart:** Thanks so much for the review and the words of encouragement, as I travel off the beaten path with this story.

**XRachX:** Thank you for the review and I'm glad that you picked up on that, as those are the characters that I can describe best.

**Daniaryezel:** Glad you liked the idea and I hope you like this chapter as well.

**TrueRomantic:** Nah that won't happen since I'm not following the series too closely. She'll have other occasions to be upset, trust me, in this story.

**Jojo Momo:** There will be more interaction throughout this story and the next one, as they become more involved in each other's lives.

**danhyde girl:** Will try, I hope you like this chapter.

**Ghostwriter:** Can do, here's the update. I know it's out a little bit quicker than the others, but I'm going to go on vacation for two weeks, so I won't be able to write.

**Daisyz:** Oh yeah, no doubt about that one, as you'll see soon.

Now, on with the Story!

_Our First Battle, Alone _

"Kim, if they don't say yes to this, are you prepared to suit back up so soon after we get a break?" Tommy asked, as the tension he could feel in their kitchen was about to drive him crazy.

They had not gone to sleep on the best of terms last night, as they talked more in depth about everything that had happened, but she seemed to let go of some of the anger this morning. He knew what her answer would be, but he knew that she was begrudgingly answering that question, to reassure him more than anything else. She would do whatever had to be done to ensure that the people of the Earth would be safe and he knew that, but that feeling came with a dear price to pay.

"I am, Handsome, but let's not worry about that until they actually say no to all of this. I know that they will have a hard time turning down this offer face to face and if they are able to do that, then they weren't meant to be rangers, Tommy. And about last night, I just over reacted to all of it. It just reminded me too much of the times when we weren't working together and it pushed me over the edge. I'm sorry," Kim said, noticing Tommy was pouring syrup in his coffee, as his emotional state became much more clear to Kim. She had thought that he was slightly stressed about the whole situation, but now she knew his mind was miles, upon miles away from here.

"Kim, it's alright,we've had it rough the last few weeks. I'm just glad that we didn't have a blow out during the middle of making the command center. I don't think I could have taken it," Tommy said with a smile, as he continued to pour the syrup in his coffee, which caused Kim to start giggling.

"You better be careful there or you'll have a sugar rush like you haven't had in years," Kim said, pointing at what he was holding in his hand and watching him stare at her in confusion.

"What?" Tommy said, then looking at the syrup in his hand and then down at his coffee cup, which it was still steadily pouring into, jerking it away, he became more aggravated with himself. "Shit, that's all that I need today."

"No use in swearing Tommy, we have plenty of coffee for another cup," Kim said, placing a new cup of coffee in front of him and taking the syrup and the, now wasted, cup away from him, to keep him from accidentally doing the same thing. If he did that twice, then he would surely lose his mind and the table might be cracked down the middle from his aggravation. "Now, after you finish that cup, you better get going or Randall will be riding your ass even more than normal, especially if she finds out you are meeting with some of your students after school."

"I know," Tommy said, quickly swallowing the coffee and placing the empty cup in the sink, to be washed that evening. "Are you going to get home early this afternoon?"

"Yeah, I should. Do you want me to listen out for any attacks?" Kim asked, as Tommy walked over to give her a hug before they walked out the door. At least they were on good terms with each other now, as he could not stand going into work, knowing that she was still mad at him.

"It would be nice, but if something comes up, it's no big deal, the rangers will be with me and I'm sure that they'll come straight to us. I should get home around six this evening, unless something comes up," Tommy said, as they both got into their separate vehicles and started towards their individual schools.

That day passed very slowly for Tommy, as he waited for his final class to come to an end, as he had decided to let them have all school day to think about it as well. That morning, they seemed wary, as they entered homeroom, so what was the harm in giving them more time to make their decision. Kira, Conner, and Ethan, had all agreed to at least think about it, instead of giving him a flat out 'no', which did give him some hope about the entire situation.

Principal Randall had already come down hard on him again, today, but he wasn't too interested in hearing anything that she had to say, as she was complaining about his student's test scores. She said that he was not teaching them anything that was why they were failing. He really wanted to tell her to kiss his ass, and move on to going after some other teacher. He didn't have the time for the damn nonsense right now, but that would just push the situation to an unbearable breaking point. They had not gotten along any better since their first run-in and Tommy did not intend to change anything between them.

As long as she hated him, he doubted that she would try to hit on him, like many of the teenagers and some of the female faculty still did and that would keep Kim from coming to meet her. He might have a bad temper, but Kim's was at least ten times worse than his was and the ones unlucky enough to inherit her wrath, rarely upset her again. Except him, as he could piss her off on a daily basis, if he ever set his mind to doing that, but he was not that dumb.

"So what are you going to do?" Tommy asked, calling them together for the second time in past two days, as the bell tolled to let them know school was officially over for the day.

This could possibly be the last time, if they decided they didn't want this responsibility and that was a very real possibility for them. If that happened, then, Rocky, Kim, and he would go back into action and risk losing their jobs and their lives again, but they didn't have any other choice. These teenagers were the ones that would ultimately decide if they were going to go back into action this time. Not them, they had no say in what was going to happen here. That was not something they were comfortable with, at least in the past they had some sort of say.

Although, Zordon had ordered them back into action the last time they had been on a team together, but they knew better than to go against something Zordon told them to do. Any ranger that had been under his command knew what would happen if that came around. They could wake up one morning and hear on the news that one of them had died, they were not going to risk any of the other ranger's lives. Even when some of them had been apart and not talking to each other, every time that Kim heard about a death in California, she just prayed it was not one of her friends and they had been lucky, so far.

"I'm in," Conner said, looking at the other two and then looking Tommy in the eyes.

Tommy looked at him, slightly shocked, at first, but then he quickly smiled at the young man, thankful that he had decided to stay with them. That let him off the hook of being a ranger again, but what about the other two? Of all of them, Tommy had expected Conner to be the hardest to convince, but something inside of him must have made him want to stay, but only God knew what that was and Tommy didn't even want to try to guess his motives. It could be as simple as the fame or as complex as some emotion that Tommy didn't even know existed. Now, all Tommy had to do was wait for the others answer to this seemingly innocent question.

"So am I," Ethan said and Tommy shifted his gaze toward Kira and could tell that she was very apprehensive about this decision. Good grief, why did she have to be the one to test him like this? The others he could have accepted without feeling a great deal of betrayal, but this was something else, something that went much deeper. He was tempted to snatch her up and carry her to the elementary school, even if she kicked and screamed the whole way, but he knew that he would have to accept her decision, either way. This meant he might not like what came out of her mouth in the next few seconds, but his hands were tied in the persuasion department. He felt that he had to respect whatever they decided, even if it wasn't best for the team as a whole.

"Well, it's a great offer. Really it is, but I don't think that I can do this. I'm just not made from the same mold that all rangers are made from. I can't do it," Kira said, as Tommy looked as if he was physically restraining himself from picking her up and taking her somewhere. She hadn't expected him to take it like this, but at least he wasn't yelling at her, although she was sure that she could have taken that better than how he was looking at her right now. The disappointment was evident in his eyes but, he seemed to have something else there that kept him from voicing how he felt. However, she would never know what that was, as she was now putting all of this out of her life. She had other things that she had to focus on, namely her musical career.

"Kira, we need you," Conner said, taking a step towards her, but Tommy caught him by his shoulder and firmly held him from walking any closer to her. It reminded him too much of what he should have done, when Kim went to train for the Pan Globals. But he knew deep down that if this didn't come from Kira's heart that it meant nothing to the team, absolutely nothing. They would be playing with live dynamite, because at anytime she could choose to leave and she wouldn't feel bad about it, she would not regret leaving them hanging, without their yellow ranger. He had to protect the team, even if they didn't understand the way in which he was protecting them.

"This is her choice, Conner, but the offer still stands if you ever change your mind," Tommy said, taking Kira's morpher from her and letting her walk out of the classroom, before he turned away from the other rangers to think for a few seconds. How would Kim be able to take a color change? She would certainly not like hearing that she would be the yellow ranger, but all of it would be fine or so he hoped. She knew that one of them could turn it down, although they had both had their money on Conner, it was just a good thing they had not bet on it, or they would have both lost money. "I need to start training you, meet me in the park at about 4:30. I need some time to think about who will take her place."

"Okay," Ethan said, as they walked out of his classroom, still thinking about Kira's refusal and how it didn't seem to fit in with how Kira usually was. Sure the thought had passed through his mind, but he couldn't imagine turning Dr. O down when all he needed was some help from all of them. The rangers were in a tight spot right now and by them becoming rangers, it could give them some more time to let their powers recharge, as he had talked toTommy about why they weren't rangers right now, on the phone last night. From what he had said, the last time they had been rangers, they had, had to drop everything, to destroy the new monster. They lost their jobs, their homes, and their families trust, for some of them, but they saved the world and that was what mattered to them. He wasn't asking them to drop everything right now, although they might have to later on. He was just asking them to become regular rangers, although Ethan did not know that there was no such thing as a quote 'regular' ranger. "You got soccer practice this afternoon?"

"Nope, coach gave us the day off. You think we have time to talk Kira back into this?" Conner asked and then the two broke into a run, as they knew what they were going to do.

Dr. O might respect her choice, but they wanted to find out why she really didn't want to do this. She wasn't a good liar and she had lied to Dr. O, he just didn't know her well enough to tell it. The two of them, however, did know her that well and they wanted the truth about why she did not want to become a ranger. She shouldn't abandon them unless she was sure that she didn't want to do this and they were positive that she wasn't sure about that. She had doubts and fear just like them, but the little bit of doubt that she had, might be enough to convince her to be a ranger and keep Dr. O from having to find a second class, yellow ranger, to replace her.

_The Elementary School _

The dull thuds of his shoes came down the empty hall, as he watched Ms. Hart's kindergarten class play on the playground, oblivious to what he was going to do to their teacher, their, somewhat, innocent teacher. He had managed to convince the office staff that he was, indeed, Dr. Thomas Oliver, Kimberly's wonderful fiance. Although, if they had taken a good look at the identification he had given them, they would have noticed it was fake, but they didn't and that is what he had been betting on from the moment that he decided to do this, to let Ms. Hart know he was back. Now, he knew, there was no way to convince Ms. Hart that he was her fiancé, but this was the only way he could talk to her, about a proposition he was sure she could not resist, especially if she knew the consequences of her actions.

"Hello, Ms. Hart, it's wonderful to see you again," Richard said, entering the empty classroom and seeing the kindergarten teacher look up at him, expecting to see someone else, as she looked happy. That looked soon changed to fear, as she quit arranging her papers and stared at him with wide eyes, backing away from her desk to try to increase the ever closing distance between them. This had to be some sort of nightmare that she would wake up from and be able to have Tommy hold her in his arms and tell her it was just a bad dream. "This is no way to greet an old friend. I expected better manners from you."

"You're not a friend, Richard," Kim said, taking a glance at the clock and then over at him, as he had a menacing grin on his face. Her class wouldn't come back inside to get their things for another five minutes, which was plenty of time for him to do his damage and get out of there without anyone knowing about him. Why did this man have to choose now to show back up? She already had enough going on in her life without him getting in the way again. "I want you to leave my classroom, now. You have no business being here."

"Well, you wouldn't tell your fiancé that, now would you, Ms. Hart?" Richard asked, as Kim realized how he had gotten past the front office: he had said he was Tommy, the bastard. All she could do was stare at him in wide-eyed shock, as she felt around behind her on the shelf, for some sort of protective weapon. She had nothing, as she had, had to make the room child friendly. Why couldn't she have been a high school science teacher, then she would have all sorts of things she could use to keep this man away from her. "Listen, I won't beat around the bush here, I have a rather good proposition for you to consider, one that could possibly keep you from suffering any more than you have to."

"Nothing that comes out of your lips could be good for me and I can deal with suffering, I've suffered plenty of times before, from far worse than you," Kim spat out, as Richard quickly backed her against a wall, threatening to attack, but holding himself back, as her breathing quickened at the position she was in. She desperately wanted to knee him in a sensitive area, but she could not cause a scene or he might really try to kill her. There would be a time for attacking her later; all he had to do now was cause some problems for the time being. Then his master would take over and do the rest of the dirty work he had started.

"You see, my master would like some help in bringing down Tommy Oliver, but you see none of us are able to get close enough to him, to get the information he needs to do that," Richard said, grabbing her hand and kissing her fingertips, as Kim struggled to get away from the man, but only found that his grip became more iron clad on her tiny wrist. She had been able to fight him off in the times past, but her knee length khaki skirt and kitten heels were no good for a situation like this, as she silently wished she would have changed into her workout clothes about five minutes ago, but she didn't think she would have to until she went to the dojo, for her own workout on her off days. Now she really wished that she would have. "You, my dear, can do that for us and it will surely save you from dying, like he will. It is only a matter of time before it happens, you know he is not that lucky, now don't you?"

"You leave Tommy out of this! He has done nothing to you!" Kim yelled, as Richard nodded his head that he had heard what she was saying and Kim started fighting the tears that wanted to stream down her cheeks. This man had an inside voice with Mesogogg and if he knew how much Tommy cared about her; she would become his next target, as a distraction for the new rangers' mentor. "I will not betray Tommy like that. I will never do that again because of you."

"You know, I could kill you right now, but I won't, if you will say that you will come with me and join our forces. If you don't do that, you will die with that little boyfriend of yours," Richard said, as Kim heard the commotion of about fifteen kindergartner's heading towards her door, although they seemed to be taking their time today. She silently prayed that they would hurry up, so this man would have to leave her alone, before describing his threat more in depth.

"I will not join you," Kim said, through clenched teeth, as the first student walked in and Richard noticed the child's presence.

"Well, if you won't, be prepared to go with him," Richard said, giving her a kiss on a cheek and watching her flinch away as he came closer to her and then he released her and left the room as suddenly as he had came.

"Ms. Hart, are you alright?" Meagan asked, as her teacher was shaking and she looked to be upset. Whoever that man was, he did not seem to be a nice person, and he had also scared her teacher.

"I'll be fine, Meagan. Now get your book bag, so you won't be late," Kim said, putting a smile on her face as she attempted to push the conversation from her mind.

She had to get to Tommy soon or she was going to have an emotional breakdown, but how could she do that without drawing anymore attention to the situation? The last thing she wanted was for Mesogogg to swoop down on them and take her, which would only put Tommy in more distress. She couldn't do that to him, but how was she going to see him before six o'clock tonight?

_Reefside Park_

"Guys, I don't want to be here," Kira said, as Ethan and Conner dragged her to the park about thirty minutes later.

She needed to see what the training was like; maybe that would help bring her to the realization that she needed to do this. That she didn't need to leave them hanging, without a yellow ranger that would be worth anything. They didn't know who Dr. O would replace her with, but they were sure that it would not be a good replacement, unless he was bringing Kim out of retirement and they highly doubted that one. He seemed pretty determined to keep her out of it, more than keeping himself out of the game, as he had already proved.

"Conner, Ethan. What have you done?" Tommy asked, as they dragged Kira up to where he was standing, her struggling the entire time against their firm grasp on her upper arms. He had, had the feeling that they would try something like this, but he didn't want to let Kira know that. They had done it out of their own free will, so he didn't feel as bad for her, as he would have if they had consulted him first.

"We went to talk to her. That cop out wasn't an acceptable excuse," Ethan said, as Kira tried to get loose, again, but they only tightened their grip on her arms. She wasn't going anywhere until she explained herself or at least gave them a believable excuse, which she had failed to do, as of yet.

"Yeah, what he said," Conner said, as Tommy shook his head in disbelief.

When he was a Power Ranger, the one thing he did regret was not dragging Kim back to Angel Grove and demanding an explanation for that letter, not that they knew about any of that. Now that they were making Kira tell the truth, he had to admit he was proud of them, although she was begging him for some help out of this situation. That was one thing that he was not sure he could give her right now.

"I have to give them some credit. I wouldn't have done this when I was a teenager. Actually, I didn't do that when I should have when I was a ranger," Tommy said, Kira looked helplessly up at him. She had expected him to try to help her, but he seemed to not be doing that any time soon. He actually seemed to be enjoying this as much as they were which only made her more aggravated with the situation.

"Dr. O, you were fine with me not being a Power Ranger," Kira said, as Tommy solemnly shook his head that she was wrong. The other rangers had let her go, although they were prepared to grab her again if what she said was not worth their while. He had never liked when someone turned down their position on a Power Ranger team, but this wasn't the first time he had seen it happen. It had to be expected after all of the years that he had been involved in this mission, that there were some people that were not willing to let the power protect them, no matter how much you did to try to get them to understand all of it. "Why didn't you stop me?"

"Because, you have to choose this on your own. It's not my choice, although I definitely suggest it. This is something you don't want to live to regret doing," Tommy said, as Kira stared at him. She looked to be very confused about what she should do, if she should maybe change her mind or if she should stick with her original decision. There was only one person that he knew of that might be able to convince her to do this, but Kim didn't really like to talk about the regret of giving her powers away to someone else. Most of the times that led to all of the other regrets she had and neither one of them wanted to talk about those, to anyone right now. They had just barely gotten over them, themselves and bringing in others, was not a good thing, at least not for a few more months. "If you need to talk to Kim, then I'll go get her."

"No, you don't need to. I want back in," Kira said, with a bright smile, as she looked at each of their shocked faces.

These boys could be bearable and she had to admit that she didn't feel right after having the powers taken away, even if it was only for a short period of time. Tommy then handed her back her morpher and watched as she slipped it on her wrist and changed it back into a communicator. It still amazed him that they had managed to pull this off, but the other rangers felt the same way that he did about this. They had no choice and this was what needed to be done, no matter what anyone else said about the situation. They were adults now and it was time that they passed the powers onto some new people. They knew they would have to battle again, but they hoped that it would be awhile before they had to do that, as there were some other things going on in their lives right now.

"Well, then you'll need to start training with us," Tommy said and then remembered he needed to get something out of his jeep. Why did he have to be so forgetful all of the time? He had tried almost everything to over throw this habit over the years, but the only thing that he had learned to do, was to leave early. No matter where he was headed, in case he had to come back home and often times he did, which led him to being late, but at least he had what he needed. "I'll be back in a second, stretch some, none of you are used to working out with me."

Tommy was soon running off towards his jeep, now wishing that he would have parked closer to their designated meeting point. He didn't necessarily want to leave them alone, knowing that their defensive skills were definitely still sub-par. The tryadrones could attack at any time, which he was not comfortable knowing, as he watched them stretch. They had only gotten a small glimspe of what it was like to be a ranger yesterday, but only old rangers knew that and they would learn all too soon. He could only hope that they would be fast learners, as their abilities were bound to be tested sometime soon.

"What the…" Conner said, being thrown to the ground by some unknown force. If Tommy had seen then he would know one thing, their Power Ranger sixth sense had not kicked in, but it would very soon. "Dr. O, that's not fair. I wasn't even watching."

"That's not Dr. O, Conner," Kira said, helping Conner up off the ground and getting him turned around, to face the group of tryadrones. They had, had some confidence with Dr. O around, but now she could feel it leaking out like the helium in a ballon. "That's the tryadrones."

"Shit," Conner said, as he scrambled back to where they were standing and looked at the creatures, as they started to make their way towards them. He knew he was supposed to be the leader, but he sure as hell did not feel up to that challenge right away. "Should we?"

"I think that would be wise," Ethan said and they quickly morphed. Then the battle began with the tryadrones. "Dr. O made this look so easy. We don't know how to do this."

"Yes we do, let the powers take over," Kira said, destroying a tryadrone and watching it disintegrate, before her very eyes.

She could definitely get used to the power she was feeling right now. It was addicting, which made it obvious why the past rangers were always willing to come back, even after a long break from the action. What she didn't know was that there was a hell of a withdrawal when the powers were taken away and that was something that wouldn't be revealed to them until the time was right.

"No," Tommy said, seeing the teens engaged in a battle with the tryadrones and he began making a beeline for the attack, but got stopped by Zeltrax. This thing, looked a lot like the amephors, although it seemed to be intelligent enough to banter with anyone it came up against, which was one thing Tommy did not need right now. He needed to be able to get to help his rangers. "Who are you?"

"I'm the person that you stole their powers from," Zeltrax said, as Tommy tried not to compare this creature's mannerisms to Todd Billingsway's. This was not going to be good, unless he was only imagining the sword this creature wielded and he doubted that. He did not have anything to protect himself and he was sure that Kim would not like him to come home bruised and cut, again. She had not taken it too badly last night, although they did have a small fight about it, but if this became a daily activity, then she was likely to have some problems with this or even worse, she would want to help in the battles. He didn't want her risking her life like that, unprotected. "Did you like the flowers?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tommy said, trying to run past Zeltrax, but being thrown to the ground, with a small cut on his forearm from the tip of the sword. Why did he consent to giving his power's up? The nausea and migraines would have been worth it, if he could only morph right now, just if it was to protect himself from any additional injury that might come from this confrontation. He, however, had done that because Billy had insisted that Zordon wanted that to happen, as the powers would have time to recharge, if they ever needed to be used again.

At this rate, Tommy was seriously considering pulling them out of retirement, so that they would have some more people to fall back on. Then he thought about the last statement that this thing had said it sent him the flowers. What in the world was going on here? The evildoers had sunk to a new low if they were trying this hard to get on his good side. He had expected it to be some student, as usual, but if this thing did send those flowers. Was there something else about the vase that might need to be destroyed, as the flowers had already died?

"Yes, you do, Tommy. You know exactly what I am talking about," Zeltrax said savagely and he knew it was Todd now, no matter what this thing made him look like now. Although he no longer looked like the man, Tommy had been around for the previous year and a half; he acted exactly the same. Cocky, arrogant, wise ass that he was, Mercer had still liked him better, but what had Mesogogg done to him?

It then hit Tommy that Todd may have been in on this plan the whole time he had been on that island and that he might have been the only person on that island to not know about it, which could explain why Anton Mercer and Todd did not panic when the attack began. They didn't even try to run, from their inevitable doom, as Mesogogg seemed determined to kill anyone that came across his path, but there was no way that could happen, or was there?

"Todd, get away from here. I didn't choose to do what you are doing and you will not get the dino gems now. It's too late for that. They have already been bonded, so if you want to destroy me, go ahead. Your tryadrones will die and you will have no protection from the rangers wrath and those are not the only rangers in the world. You might want to remember that," Tommy said, seeing that they were dying left and right. Thank goodness the defensive mechanisms that they had installed in the morphers worked. If not, his rangers would have been in a desperate situation right now and he would have had to try to overthrow Zeltrax on his own, which did not look like an easy task, as he already been cut once.

"I will be back, Tommy and next time you may need to watch your back," Zeltrax said, as he and the tryadrones disappeared into an invisaportal. He wasn't ready to go into a full-fledged attack against Tommy, but Todd did know that he was no longer alone in trying to defeat them.

Mesogogg was not going to be happy when he heard all of this; no matter how much he sugar coated it and tried to play down the rangers abilities. He knew that he had underestimated what Tommy could do with the gems, but had they also underestimated the abilities he would be able to instill in the rangers. As he was a mere human and had probably never been a member of a ranger team, but what had Elsa, said about the people in his house a few nights ago?

"Are you alright?" Tommy asked, running down to check on the, thoroughly, exhausted rangers. Now they saw why they had to have the powers and why Dr. O had been so insistent on them keeping them. If they hadn't, they would have been dead right now, they knew that much for sure. They all couldn't help but wonder how often Tommy had gone through this during his tenure as a ranger, but that question would have to wait until later. Right now, he seemed very intent on getting them back to the command center and out of the immediate line of fire. He had not known many creatures to attack twice in a short period of time, but he was not going to risk it. As he had learned that there was a first time for everything in this business.

"I'm fine," Kira said, looking up at Tommy, still dressed in her uniform, until he asked them to power down and head back to his house.

"You've had a rough day," Tommy said, as they piled into his jeep, anxious to get out of this place and into the safety of the command center. They still were afraid that the tryadrones would show up again and they didn't know if they could deal with that today. They were too drained to deal with it now, but they were not ready to admit that to Tommy. If they were going to stay in this, then they were going to have to get themselves in better shape, whether they liked it or not. "So, are you glad you stayed?"

"Yeah," Kira said, as they began to drive towards the command center. This was a trip, that they were going to be taking much more than they had ever thought imaginable. It was going to now have to fit into their daily routine. If they didn't go there every day, then there would definitely be a lull in activity or so they gathered from the past forty-eight hours activities.

"I wish Jason and Billy would finish the teleporting grid. Then we wouldn't have to drive to the command center," Tommy said, as they looked at him, confused as to the device he had just mentioned. What was a teleporting grid and what did it have to do with them?

"What's a teleporting grid?" Conner asked, willing to feel stupid, as he often did when he opened his mouth to ask anyone a question. If Dr. O had explained it before, he couldn't remember and he was sure Kira and Ethan would let him know if he had done that.

"It is what we used to get to battles and out of battles if things got too bad," Tommy said, as he noticed Kim was home already, not that this was odd on a Wednesday, but something didn't seem quite right. He just couldn't place what it was right now, as his mind wandered to other things.

"Dr. O, why is Kim's car up here, instead of under the garage?" Kira asked and it hit Tommy that was what was off today.

She had never been scared to park under there before, but something must have gotten to her today. What could it be? She hadn't mentioned anything this morning or last night that she had planned for today that would have upset her, but he could have forgotten, although he had gotten better at it, especially with things that had to deal with her. It could just be that her migraine came back, although he doubted that in some ways. He just had this feeling in the pit of his stomach that it was much more than a migraine or a stomach ache.

"Come on, let's get to the command center," Tommy said, looking to see if Kim had stayed downstairs, but the only thing that even told him that she was home, was that her school bag was sitting on top of the little table he had in the lobby. Well, maybe she was just feeling bad, as she had been having some problems with her allergies lately. He hoped that was all it was, as he wasn't sure he could take anymore bad news today.

"Tommy, are you alright?" Hayley asked, as they walked into the command center. She had been in Reefside when the alarm went off on the communicator Tommy had given her, so she rushed to his house as quickly as she could, closing down the Cyber Café early. She had the feeling that she was going to have to hire some extra staff to help her out, as she was going to have to do this every time a monster attack came and the café couldn't be closed every time that happened or people would start to notice. She knew that she could not risk to blow their cover, as it had been protected for all of these years.

"Yeah, a few bruises, but those will soon heal," Tommy said, with a smile as the rangers stared at Hayley. She hadn't been in any of the pictures, so what did she have to do with them? They knew about the oath of silence, but had the old rangers broken that promise, once upon a time?

"Hayley, what are you doing here?" Ethan asked, as he happened to be a frequent customer of the café. He didn't even know that Dr. O knew Hayley, but he had been out of town for a long time before the school year began. So, it made sense that he wouldn't know about their friendship or much else about Dr. O.

"I'm the technical support, although I don't know why Kim didn't come down here when the alarm went off," Hayley said, letting Tommy know that she thought something was off, too. They had agreed that if Kim or Tommy was home that they would try to take care of it, but Kim hadn't come down there at all and her car had been in the drive when Hayley arrived at their home. Something seemed wrong, but that was only something that Tommy could ask about.

"Do I need to go check on her?" Tommy asked, but Hayley could only shrug her shoulders. How would she know what Tommy should do, if Kim had told her nothing about the situation that was causing her odd behavior at the moment in question? "Great, you're just loads of help."

"That's my job. I don't read her as well as you do," Hayley said with a smile, as Tommy looked at the computer screen and then began filling in the information he had learned to day. The information from the rangers suits had already flowed into the system, but there were somethings Tommy had noticed that needed to be put in there as well.

"Tommy," Kim said, quietly walking down the stairs and emerging into the command center. She had heard him come in and she was now trying to hold her emotions in, until she could talk to him, face to face.

How could she tell him that HE was back? HE had found her again and his threats were more detailed than ever this time. HE had told her to get away from Tommy or she would be killed as well and she believed ever word of it. Tommy wasn't going to take this well and she knew that. Why did this have to happen now, only so soon after having to start working with the new rangers?

"Hey sweetie," Tommy said, not looking up from the control panel, as he helped Hayley enter the information they had learned from this battle. It may not have been much, but it was a start and they needed every bit that they could get their hands on.

The network was extensive, but it could only help them as much as the amount of information that they put in there, which was why they had to store every bit of information, they could get their hands on. The immense amount of concentration this took, was what kept him from hearingthe clear distress in her voice, although she did sound sick to him.

"Ms. Hart, are you alright?" Kira asked, as her eyes looked puffy and she looked to be begging Tommy to look at her, so she wouldn't have to say it, whatever it was. Conner and Ethan looked curiously at her, but they were not going to be brave enough to ask a question like that. They knew that they were no good at female emotions and that it would be best if they left it to Kira, Hayley, and Dr. O.

"No," Kim said, hoping Tommy would turn around and he did at her dismal response to that single question. He had paused while typing in the information and looked over at her, to see she was struggling to not run over to him and bury her face in the fabric of his shirt. He knew that this couldn't be good, whatever it was.

"Kim, what happened?" Tommy asked, the concern and pain of seeing her like this coming through in his voice. Conner, Kira, and Ethan backed away, as Tommy looked at her, to where Hayley stood, utterly confused.

That one word had changed Tommy's whole mood and as he walked over to where she stood, he could see something else welling up in her eyes, besides the tears that were threatening to stream down her cheeks and then onto her neck. Something that he didn't want to see in her eyes again, as he remembered the night he had been told about Richard. It just couldn't be him, he was in Florida. He had to still be in Florida.

"He's back, Tommy. He's back," Kim muttered, as the tears started to fall and he pulled her into his arms, feeling her mold her body to his, carefully clinging to him, as her last piece of happiness. She had needed this hug ever since that man had came and talked to her, but she couldn't call him out of school, without raising any extra suspicion from Principal Randall. She did not want to cause any more trouble for Tommy, although she had desperately needed to see him that afternoon.

"Who Kim? Who's back? Who did this to you?" Tommy asked, feeling that he should know who she was talking about, but he couldn't place whom it was. His mind was just too boggled by her being so distraught that nothing seemed to make sense to him, other than trying to comfort her and make whatever it was go away.

"Richard," Kim whispered, as Tommy's heart filled with rage and his arms tightened around her, as she was now shaking in his arms, at the mere mention of that man's name. Damn this man, he only gave her enough of a rest to feel safe, then he came back with more vengeance than ever. This was going to stop, one way, or another, no matter what she said to try to stop him from going after this man. He had to stop doing this to her.

"What did he do?" Tommy asked, forgetting that the young rangers were still in the command center. They looked on, as Hayley merely covered her mouth at the mention of the name.

She had never really been told the whole story, but she knew enough to fill in the missing pieces and the picture that popped into her mind was not pleasant at all. It seemed that the only person who had heard the entire story was Tommy and he had been greedy with the details around their friends, not that she blamed him. From what Billy had told her, it had not been a pleasant experience in Florida for Kim, due to whatever this man had done to her and even he didn't have a clue as to exactly what that could be. Only Kim and Tommy knew the whole story and it seemed very bleak from the little that the others knew.

"He came to talk to me at school and he said that he was you, that was how he got past the office staff. You are the only person that I have given them that could interrupt my class at their own digression. He even came during my planning period, so I couldn't use the kids as an excuse to get away from him. He plans to kill you Tommy," Kim blubbered out, before the sobs took complete control of her body and made her unable to talk about it anymore for the moment. There was so much more she needed to tell him, but she just couldn't manage to spit it out right now, as she needed to cry on his shoulder and he gladly obliged.

"Damn him, Kim," Tommy said, as he pulled her closer than she had already been, feeling her hands ball up pieces of his shirt within them and stretch it out of the waistband of his khaki pants. The rangers looked on, in shock at Tommy's reaction to all of this. They had rarely heard him raise his voice, even during school, until today and now he was swearing. It was obvious that it was more than the death threat that bothered him. The death threats had to be normal by now, but it seemed this man stemmed from Kim's past, not his own and that past had been a very dark one, where whoever this was, was concerned. "I'll take care of it. He'll never bother you again."

"Tommy, you can't. He's helping Mesogogg, now," Kim whispered as Tommy looked down at her, shocked at this statement, which sounded much more like a plea for him to reconsider anything he was thinking about doing. He had the feeling that Richard had been watching them for awhile and had already learned their schedules by heart. He was another one of Mesogogg's informants and this only increased Tommy's dislike for the creature. He was using a man that made his fiancée feel vulnerable and that he thought would get the two of them to call every thing quits, well he had news for him. He was going to get back at him for everything that he had done to the two of them, if it was the last thing that he ever did. "He's been given powers and you're not protected anymore, Tommy. You can't go do something crazy and get yourself killed."

"The son of a bitch and he knows that you're not a Power Ranger any more," Tommy said, picking Kim up and taking her over to the couch, he had bought for the command center. These kids would be spending more time here than they would like to count and they needed a place to crash, when they were completely exhausted from a hard days battle. It was now pulling double duty, as a counselor's area, which Tommy had always hoped to keep it from being turned into. They had so many sessions like this at the old command center, he hated for this to only be the second time it was used, and now it had that job too. "Kim, I'm going to kill him if he ever lays one hand on you again."

"Tommy, he doesn't want to harm me, he wants to harm you," Kim said, resting her head on his shoulder and looking up at the side of his face. Tommy had never been one to put himself in danger, but it often times came looking for him. She just couldn't seem to hammer it into his brain that Richard was not interested in harming her. He was interested in getting Tommy out of the picture, completely this time. In the hopes that Kim would fall for him, but if he ever did that, then she would be the one that he needed to fear, not Tommy, Jason, or any of the other rangers. She would personally take care of him, herself, if he dared to do kill Tommy or so much as harm one hair on his head. Not many people scared her anymore and her fury would block out the fear she had of this man and Tommy knew that all too well. "You can't die. I've been through all the close calls and I don't want to be here for the actual event, Tommy."

"Kim, if he shows up at your work again, call me and I will come, no matter what time it is. I don't want you to go through this again," Tommy said, holding her as tightly to himself as he could, feeling himself start to tremble in anger and pain. He knew that he should be trying to give her words of comfort, but those wouldn't work this time. She wasn't going to be calmed down, by 'he's gone and he won't come back'; it was going to take much more than that this time and he knew that. "Beautiful, it's gonna be alright."

"How do you know that?" Kim asked, fighting another round of sobs that where trying to escape her lips and body. She had pulled her head off of his chest and was now looking him in the eyes, trying to convey her fear for him with one look and she managed to do that. "How do you know that he won't just show up and just kill you?"

"I don't, but you don't need to worry about me. I can take care of myself," Tommy said, glancing up and seeing that Hayley and Kira were looking, distressed, from hearing the little snippets of the truth coming out about this, unknown, man. He wasn't sure where to take this from here, knowing that Hayley wasn't going to leave until she found out the whole story and Kim was in no condition to explain it to anyone tonight, although Hayley had surely figured out some of the missing pieces. Hopefully enough that would satisfy her curiosity until Kim was able to explain it to all of them. "Do you want to take a day off tomorrow?"

"No, I just…I don't want you to leave," Kim said, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He could feel the tears, now on his skin and it felt as if the pain that she was feeling was going through him as well. His composure was becoming very limited, as he struggled to keep from breaking down into tears of his own. She was right, he couldn't fight off someone who had powers, when he didn't anymore. He had already tried that today and he had not done too well, as he could feel some bruises coming up and the wound had only stopped bleeding a few minutes ago, as it had dripped down onto the side of his pants. "If he comes after you at the school, there is no one there that can help you."

"Hayley, do you mind calling Jason?" Tommy asked, as Hayley nodded her head and started towards the stairs. If Jason and Trini were willing to come down, then they would be able to smooth this over, as a group effort this time, which was what it was going to take this time. "Tell him that I need Trini and him to come up for the weekend."

"Okay," Hayley said, jogging up the stairs, hoping that she remembered where Kim kept her address book. She didn't know Jason's phone number from memory, but if she couldn't find the address book, she could always call Billy. He had to know the number and he would certainly want to know about the extra distress being caused in Reefside.

"Tommy, Jason doesn't know," Kim said, as Tommy ignored the comment and tried to continue to calm her down. He knew that Jason didn't know and neither did Trini, but Trini would calm Kim down and Jason would join him in the beat the son of a bitch's ass club. Tommy knew he couldn't control himself much longer and at least he would have Jason on his side if things went the way he thought it would over the next few weeks.

"They'll be here Friday afternoon," Hayley said, as she pulled the Dino Rangers to the side. Tommy wasn't going to be able to disentangle himself from Kim for long enough to excuse them and even if he did, they would only ask questions that would hinder him from getting back to his real love. Hayley knew that he didn't need that right now and it would all be explained to them later, if he had to. They looked exhausted and she thought it best to send them home, for a good night's rest, as they were sure to need it. She had heard that the nights of rest were limited as well and that they might as well enjoy it while it lasted, because things would heat up one day. "Look, it may be best for you to go ahead and go home. Whatever they're talking about, I'm sure they don't want any of us to hear it."

"But," Conner started to object, but he caught Kira's death glare out of the corner of his eye and glanced at her. She didn't even have to say what was forming at her lips, as Conner changed his mind very quickly. He did not have the energy to fight off a verbal attack from her today and he was smart enough to know to back down, while he still could. "We'll go, but keep us posted. I want to help track down this freak."

"I will," Hayley whispered, ushering the boys up the stairs and into the kitchen. She held Kira back for the time being, because she knew that Kira needed to be reassured that everything was going to be fine. This certainly did not look good with the only other female ranger she knew suffering like this. Although it had nothing to do with ranger duties, from what she had gathered.That didn't matter, it was still distressing. "Don't worry about her. Tommy will take care of her, just do me a favor, and keep an eye out for any suspicious characters for the next few days. Call me at any time you need me and don't worry about getting in touch with him tonight, he'll probably be busy all night."

"Okay," Kira said, going to catch up with Conner and Ethan. She had always thought that the evil they would fight, would be these huge monsters, but now she was finding out that they were just like ordinary people and had weaknesses, too. This man, whoever he was, wasn't new on the scene, but his unexpected arrival had thrown the Hart/Oliver household into pure turmoil, which they didn't need anymore of at the present time. Mesogogg was doing enough in that department, in her opinion.

"What did Hayley want to talk to you about?" Conner asked, as they walked up the path that led to the road. Ethan lived close by and he would be able to drive them back to their houses, as soon as they got to his.

"Nothing, Conner," Kira said, keeping her eyes peeled for the man that she knew was out here, somewhere. The boys merely shrugged their shoulders and then everything went quiet. It seemed that they had decided it was best to not say anything to each other, if they could help. When they didn't talk, they didn't fight and it was important to keep it that way.

Richard Myles pulled himself away from the window and over to the corner of the house, just in time to see the teenagers exit the house. Kim had not come back upstairs yet, which made him almost certain that she was talking to Tommy, about all of this. He did not know what had made him go see her in person, but he was sure that Mesogogg would punish him for this. He had given up their secret and now had Tommy Oliver ready to murder him, if he could only get his hands on him. In some ways, he wished that he had never agreed to do this, as it was becoming hard to keep his feelings out of the picture. Kimberly Hart hated him and she was scared of him, which meant Tommy Oliver was going to do anything he could to destroy him. This was going to be a long night, when Mesogogg found out how much he had put their mission in jeopardy.

AN: That's all for this chapter and I hope that you have enjoyed it!


	12. Trini and Jason's Visit

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**jedi4jesus19:** Glad you limed it and I'm sorry it's been awhile. I've been away from a computer this week, which is really no excuse, so I hope this chapter is worth the wait.

**TrueRomantic:** She'll get better soon, though Richard will fade and come back as the story goes on.

**Daniaryezel:** Yeah, he's been flirting with disaster since the beginning. Yeah, but with him the only person that he doesn't want to have die in this is Kim and as you can see, she wants nothing to do with the man.

**Hamsher52:** He's very close to his breaking point, but I have the plan for his revenge to be a little sweeter or so I hope.

**XRachX:** Thank you, so am I, thank goodness. Yeah, it is nice to have them brought back in, as they seem to provide a sense of stability when everything seems to be going wrong.

**siriuslydeceased:** Thanks for the review and it certainly will be interesting I can promise that much.

**danhyde girl:** I'm glad you like how it is going, but they, of course, will have some problems.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks you and you are not the only one that happens to be on Tommy's side during this whole fiasco.

**hhsmajotettearg:** Thank you and I'm glad you like both of these stories, although the other one is taking a little longer to publish each chapter.

Now, on with the Story!

_Trini and Jason's Visit _

Tommy spent the rest of that evening, trying to calm Kim down and managed to do so. Well, up to a point. He had managed to get her to sleep by midnight, but he still felt her thrashing about in his arms, as nightmares filled her sleep. He knew that even he wasn't going to be able to push all of the thoughts out of her mind by himself, not this time. No matter how hard he tried that was truly impossible. Before when he had been able to do that, he didn't have to worry about the man showing up again and now he did have to worry about that, which was something that he didn't want to face alone. If he could get Trini and Jason's help with this, maybe he would be able to calm her, at least for the time being and that would be no small accomplishment if he managed to do that.

He knew that the man would not simply go away, as he had prayed Mesogogg would have at the beginning of all of this. Their wedding was to be held on the first day of Christmas Break and if she were going to be comfortable to go on with the wedding,their friends would have to know to keep an eye out for this man and anything he might attempt to do at the ceremony. He was determined to not let this man pull them apart, no matter how hard he tried to do just that.

"Hey, bro. What's going on? Hayley was pretty vague on the details on Wednesday," Jason said, walking in and giving Tommy a hug and a critical look. Tommy looked shaken, for once and Jason wondered if the kids hadn't accepted the duties, but he knew that they had.

So, Tommy didn't have any reason to be like this, unless something else was going on that they didn't know about, but he couldn't imagine Kim and Tommy having problems. Not problems that would make Tommy look this pale and worried. He didn't look to have had a good nights rest in a few days, but you had to look really hard to see the worry, as it was disguised by his legendary look of indifference. Jason knew when he pulled that look out of his bag of tricks, something was really wrong. So wrong that he only trusted a handful of people to discard it to.

"Well, I'm not the one you should be asking that question," Tommy said, with the warmest greeting he could muster, as he noticed Jason had figured out, not all was well in Reefside. Jason wasn't going to be happy when he heard this and Trini was definitely not going to like this, at all, but he had no right to tell them the problem that was troubling Kim. He knew that much from experience. They had to hear it from Kim or they were likely to ambush her with questions that she would have given the details for and he would have overlooked, mainly the attempted rape.

"Where's Kim?" Trini asked, pushing Jason out of the way and looking up at Tommy, who looked more worried at the mention of her name. She would have guessed that something had happened with her, because Tommy didn't usually demand that they come up for the weekend and that was what he had done this time. He had called later to say that Kim wanted Trini to help find bridesmaid dresses, but it was still too suspicious, even Tommy knew that, but they knew it was not best to ask him about it over the phone, as they were sure to find out when they came up for the weekend.

"She had some stuff to finish up at the elementary school this afternoon, but she should be getting here soon," Tommy said, having the feeling that Trini knew something was amiss, but just hadn't mentioned it, yet. He hoped Kim would have gotten there before they arrived, but this week had been a hassle for her, as the first week of school often is for any teacher. He glanced down at his watch and then looked back up at the door, she should have been here by now. What could be keeping her?

"Tommy, what exactly is wrong?" Trini asked, as Tommy bit his lower lip and looked down at Trini, then over at Jason. They were both peering at him, hoping he would be able to give them some clue as to what was happening. He knew he couldn't tell them, but whatever he said would have to be good enough to dodge the bullet for just a little while longer, until Kim was able to talk to them about all of it. Although he hated putting her in that position, he knew that if they found out from someone other than the source, then they would be likely to misunderstand something.

Kim knew better than to leave any room for miscommunication, as far as she was concerned, this was Tommy's life that was, literally, in her hands. Her actions towards this man could push him to a new low and no one wants that on their conscience when they go to battle these people for the final time. She did not want to know that she had gotten Tommy killed, as they allknew that shewould not be able to think ofanything besides revenge and that meant no thinking about what that wouldmean for the others.

"I know that if you just wanted us to visit, then you would have called us, not Hayley. What's happened here, Tommy?" Jason asked, as Tommy had not even attempted to answer them yet.

"Yeah," Tommy said, feeling slightly guilty about that, but he knew that he couldn't leave her alone then. Not with how upset that she was that night. They didn't leave the command center the entire night and he had known it when he woke up late the next morning. It sadly reminded him of the old times, when they had done the same thing, under very similar circumstances, in the only other command center they had ever known. Their life had a way of repeating itself, although it had definitely calmed down some lately. The only thing that was missing was him being captured and then becoming a ranger, again. If that happened, then the two of them would probably have to take a little while off work to talk over the details of his newest deployment, although he silently hoped and prayed there would be a power out there for him. If he didn't get a power soon, he was likely to be killed by one of Mesogogg's goons in battle and he didn't like knowing that. "It's a long story, but I don't have the right to tell you about any of it."

"Well who does?" Jason asked, as Kim's car pulled into the drive and parked next to Jason's car. She had refused to park under the garage since Wednesday, not that he blamed her by any means for that one. If Richard were to camp out under there and then attack her, there was a good chance that no one would hear her yell and if he were not at home it wouldn't matter, even if she screamed. He knew that there was not another house around there for miles and even if they heard, they probably wouldn't make it in time to stop Richard from doing whatever he had planned, which could be as simple as capturing her and making him come to them.

"She does," Tommy said, as Kim opened the door and dropped her things, before heading over to see Trini. Her best friend's comfort was something she needed and Tommy was glad to see that she looked happy, for a few seconds at least.

"Kim, it's great to see you!" Trini exclaimed, as she gave her a hug, but when she let go and looked at her, she could tell something was weighing heavily on her mind and it wasn't bridesmaid dresses. She knew without a doubt that she had already decided on those weeks ago.

"It's good to see you, too," Kim said, making her way over to Jason and giving him ahug, but seeing that he still had questions in his eyes. Jason wanted so badly to be able to help, but Tommy was not even thinking about telling him all of it. Was he really going to make her tell him about what Richard had tried to do to her? It had been rough telling Tommy the truth, but she knew she would have to spell everything out for Jason, as the anger would block out the part of his brain that could fill in the missing blanks in a conversation. "Tommy…"

"Whenever you want to, we've got all weekend," Tommy said, as he leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek, not making her ask the question that had formed in her mind. Sometimes he felt as if he knew her too well, but this was one of the times that he was grateful for the skill of being able to almost read her mind. Otherwise she would have had to spell everything out for him word for word and she didn't need that right now. All she needed was for someone to understand the hurt and help her get through it, knowing that the man could come back at any time. They both had prepared themselves for running into him, but they didn't know what powers he held and what they could do to the two of them, at his own leisure. "You hungry?"

"No," Kim said, looking down at her feet and then up into Tommy's concerned eyes. She had lost her appetite since seeing Richard again. Well, it wasn't the seeing him that had bothered her as much as what he had said to her. She just couldn't believe that he had showed up in her life again, especially right when things were getting back to as normal as could be expected for any ranger.

"You know that you have to eat," Tommy said, gently pushing her towards the living room, as Jason eyed him carefully about the situation at hand. He had never heard Tommy tell Kim that she had to eat, that had just never been a problem, but he could not think of a thing that would cause Kim to lose her appetite.Tommy was going to order pizza for the night, to go along with the 'sedation' they had bought for Jason earlier that week. Tommy may have been irate, but they could not predict what Jason was going to do when he heard what had happened and they were prepared for about anything. From complete and utter rage, to sobs and tears, they knew that Jason could have any of these emotions when something disturbed him as much as this, surely, would. "Is pizza alright?"

"Whatever you want, Tommy. I'm going to go for a walk," Kim said, walking towards the back door, which led out onto a deck. He didn't want to let her out of his sight, but there wasn't much he could do to stop her. She needed sometime to think about how she was going to tell Jason, he could tell that, and he was not going to try to stop her from doing that, not after the week that she had.

"You want some company?" Trini offered, noticing that Tommy didn't want to let her go by herself, but that he wasn't going to say anything to her, for fear of getting his head bitten off by the mood that Kim seemed to be in. She, however, noticed this in Tommy and offered, so he would be able to rest a little bit easier, if she went with Trini then there would be two of them against whatever might be out there.

"Sure," Kim said, as Trini walked out the door with her, pulling the white pullover of Tommy's she had grabbed over her head, to shield her from the chill in the air. She knew that Tommy preferred that she didn't go on a walk at all, but with Trini accompanying her, he would not go and check the door every five minutes.

"Be careful," Tommy said, and Kim turned around to give him a smile and blow him a quick kiss. They all thought that she worried about him too much. The other rangers would have killed to hear Tommy say that, as he proved that it worked both ways with the two of them.

"Now, Daddy Oliver, why did you say that?" Jason asked, giving Tommy a careful glance, as he laughed at Tommy. Tommy knew that it was odd of him to say something like that, as being a ranger made you careful all the time, but after this week, he just wanted to be careful with everything. Jason, however, did not know about the events that had led him to invite them up for the weekend, so it was very suspicious to him and they both knew that, although neither wanted to bridge the gap and start talking about what was going on.

"Jason, it's something that even I can't explain in a nice way," Tommy muttered and went to order the pizzas. He couldn't take being interrogated by Jason, tonight, or he just might let the truth slip out and then he would be the one in the doghouse, which wasn't a good place for him to land in right now. He knew that she needed him as much, if not more, than he had ever needed her, as this Richard guy had shattered their world, by his mere appearance.

"So, how's school been?" Trini asked, as they walked down the path that Tommy had made over his years of running around his property, for the sake of keeping himself in shape, which he had managed to do a good job of. It was shaded by trees, but Kim knew that if something were to happen Tommy and Jason would hear their yells and that they would be able to get them in time. That did comfort her some and her background comforted her even more, knowing she could hold her own until they got there, at least she had been able to in the past against this man.

"It's been rough, Trini. The kids are great, they're all so sweet, but I had a run-in with an old acquaintance. Tommy's pretty mad about all of it, not that I blame him, I would be mad if someone said that to him about me," Kim said, knowing that it would be easier to tell Trini first, although this was one thing she had hidden from her best friend for some many years. She had never though that anyone would try to do that and was embarrassed to have to tell people about it, especially her friends. She knew that she had to tell Trini.

Then she would be able to help control Jason, if it was at all possible to control his anger and the other emotions he was going to feel when he learned the whole story. When he found out that the man was back in town, however, she wasn't sure that he wouldn't storm out of the house and go find the man, with Tommy hot on his heels, being more than willing to go through with this confrontation. Although he had somehow managed to rein in his anger for the last few days, while he was with her.

"What is it?" Trini asked, knowing that she didn't want to know the answer, but that Kim wanted to tell her first, not Jason. Jason, it seemed, would be likely to have a very violent reaction to all of this and he wouldn't be able to give the comfort that she needed from him right now.

"That's a long story Trini, but it started when I first went to Florida," Kim said, taking the opportunity to feel out how much Trini knew about all of this. She didn't seem to know anything, so she was going to have to begin at the very beginning of the story. She couldn't help but wonder why Rocky hadn't told them, but he might have thought that it wasn't his place to tell it and he was right about that. He had sure done a good job at not letting any of the details leak out and she was going to have thank him for that, the next time she saw him. "Well, this guy named Richard attacked me and tried to… well, you can guess that. I fought back, got him off of me and ran. Soon after that, he was thrown in jail for raping another girl. I thought that I was through with him forever. Then he got out of jail, a few weeks before I came back out here for out last mission. I was determined to never go back to Florida, if I could help it. That was why I was so sure that Tommy and I would get a good chance to catch up with each other, I wasn't going back. I know he wouldn't have let me go, especially after he found out everything. Well, on Wednesday he showed up at the school, claiming he was Tommy. He cornered me, asking if I would leave Tommy and come join him. He wanted me to come work for Mesogogg, to turn against Tommy and be another informant for his 'master' as he called him. I couldn't run, I couldn't hide, all I could do was tell him no, I absolutely wouldn't do that to Tommy. Then he said he was going to kill Tommy and if I knew what was best for me, I would leave him or the same was likely to happen to me. Trini this guy means it and Tommy is already in enough danger. I can't let anything happen to him, not because of me."

"Kim, why didn't you tell us sooner?" Trini asked, as they finished their loop around the property, Kim's explanation taking the entire trip. This was a lot to take, but she wished that she had known earlier, so she would have been able to help her get over all of it, as it still seemed to plague her. Although some of that could be directed back to recent events that had happened in Reefside and what had obviously caused Tommy to call them back up.

"Because I didn't want Jason and Tommy to lash out and do something rash, although Tommy certainly was tempted to Wednesday," Kim said, opening the door and seeing that the downstairs was vacant, which meant the boys were either upstairs or in the command center. "I'll tell Jason after supper. We bought enough beer to drink him into fainting, if we have to."

"Beer?" Jason asked, looking over at Tommy, as they stood on the balcony of the stairs, just out of their girlfriend's sight. Tommy had been trying to prepare him for what was sure to be a bad confrontation, with him learning all about what truly made Kim's trip to Florida so bad. Jason, however, did not realize it was that bad until he heard about the beer they had purchased for his sedation. "Why would I need to drink beer? Is it really going to be that bad, Tommy?"

"Yeah, I think by the end of this we'll both need one or two," Tommy said, hearing the doorbell ring from upstairs. The pizza man was on time, for once, but he needed to talk to Jason a little bit more, before it all hit the ceiling that evening. "Kim, my money's on the table, will you get the door?"

"Sure," Kim said, grabbing the money and opening the door, expecting to find a complete and total stranger, as she always did with the delivery men. However, it seemed that fate had a different idea for what would happen when she opened that door.

"Hello, Kimberly," Richard said, as she went deathly pale and clutched onto the handle of the door, to keep herself from fainting from the shock. Trini noticed her odd appearance and that Kim had quickly shoved the money in the back pocket of her jeans. She couldn't do this; she just couldn't face him. She had to get away, fast or she would have a breakdown on the front porch steps, and the last thing she wanted was for this man to touch her, ever again.

"Hold on, I left my money inside," Kim said, with a bright smile, closing the door and looking at Trini. Trini knew what she had to do and did not blame her in the least bit. She had to go get Tommy, so the man would not be tempted to invite himself inside, where all hell would break loose, as Tommy would surely recognize the man from Kim's reaction to him. "Don't let him leave."

"Sure," Trini said, opening the door and making small talk with the man although she had a gut feeling about who he was. It really ticked Trini off to know that this man knew where they lived and was willing to show himself to them. What sort of psycho was this man?

"Tommy," Kim said, running up the stairs and throwing her arms around him, she felt him put his arms around her, as she settled her head on his chest and weeped. She hated feeling weak and vulnerable, but there was nothing she could do about it. Richard made her feel like that every time she saw him, although he did not get what he wanted out of her. "Don't let him get me."

"What?" Tommy asked, looking down at her and starting to carry her down the stairs, as she clinged onto his waist. Then it hit him who it had to be to get her running into his arms like this; he couldn't know where they lived. That was just morally wrong, besides some of the federal offenses that he could think of charging this man with, if he could gather enough evidence. If he could find someway to get him thrown in jail, he would gladly do that. "Is that man at our house? The son of a… Jason hold on to her for me. I'll go pay for the pizza."

"Alright, bro," Jason said, putting both of his arms around Kim and continuing to help her down the stairs, as he watched Tommy quickly descend the stairs and walk across the living room. Who could have showed up that would make them both act like this?

"Sorry about the wait," Tommy said, walking up behind Trini and then pushing her behind him, he did not want to chance her getting hurt by this man, as well or Jason would never let him live that down. This Richard fellow sure was creepy, with his sunken eyes and shaved head, but he did have to give him some credit. He was creative in how he got to see her. He, however, had not planned for Tommy to be home and now he was going to pay, although Tommy knew he could not attack him the way he wanted to. Richard seemed to only have a human form and he could not risk himself being put in jail for battery, leaving the rangers hanging and Kim even more vulnerable. "Busy day, you know how it is."

"Yeah," Richard said, shocked at how Kim had not come back out, but sent Tommy instead. She certainly knew how to choose someone that would scare him to death, by just one look at him. He had seen the man from afar, but up close, let's just say he was more than a little bit intimidated by him. Tommy was not much taller than he was, but the muscles he could see rippling underneath his shirt were enough to make him worry. He may have been given powers, but utter rage would surely be able to overthrow the powers Mesogogg had bestowed upon him. He looked mad and he was sure that his blood was boiling under his calm façade. He knew that he had better get out of there soon, or Tommy was likely to snap and that would probably mean some broken bones for him and absolutely nothing for Tommy. Mesogogg was really going to hate him when he found out about all of this. "Here's your pizza and here's your change."

"Thank you," Tommy said jerking the pizza away from him and ushering Trini inside before closing the door behind them and quickly locking it. He was feeling sick to his stomach and he could barely move, but he was going to be strong, for a little while at least. "Kim, grab me a beer. I think I'm going to have to start earlier than Jason tonight."

"I will, she doesn't seem capable of getting off the couch," Jason said, walking into the kitchen and opening up the refrigerator. Tommy hadn't been kidding when he said that they had gotten enough to sedate him, as he looked at four six packs. What was so bad that he might need this?

"Beautiful, he's gone, don't worry about it," Tommy said, after handing Trini the pizzas and sitting down on the couch. He put both of his arms around her and let her bury her face in the crook of his neck, which almost drove him crazy. Every time a tear hit his skin, it only cemented the anger and resentment he felt towards this man. He did not have the right to torture her like this and if Tommy had anything to do with it, it would all end very soon.

"Why won't he just leave me alone? Isn't it enough that he caused me to break up with you last time? I can't do this anymore, Tommy, I just can't," Kim said, as Jason and Trini both sat down, quietly listening to what was being said. Jason set Tommy's beverage on the table and pushed it towards him, being afraid to talk to him. He looked to be needing something stronger than light beer, but this would have to do, for the time being. If it became necessary, he would go into Reefside and buy some stronger sedation, for himself and Tommy.

"Kim, just let me kill him. No one will know," Tommy said, as Jason watched her shake her head no. He couldn't understand why she would protect this person, after all that he had, obviously, done to the two of them.

"Tommy, I'm really scared now," Kim said looking up at him and staring into his eyes. She had never thought that the man would show up at their house, letting them know that he knew where they lived and could watch their every move if he decided to. "I don't want you to die."

"Trini what's going on?" Jason whispered as the pair had gone quiet on the couch, with Tommy rocking Kim back and forth in his arms. Tommy looked as if he was barely able to keep rage from leaking out, but he wasn't going to let that happen because of the woman he was holding in his arms. He was desperately trying to protect her, but was failing because he respected her decisions for her life, although he wanted to override them so badly and go after the man.

"I can't tell you," Trini said, as Kim looked over at Jason, having heard the question he posed to Trini. She really didn't want to do this, but he needed to know the truth. He needed to understand why she was acting this way, because she knew he was thinking that it was just 'that time' of the month and it was much more than that this time.

"Do you really want to know, Jason?" Kim asked, pulling away from Tommy and giving Jason her full attention. She still needed Tommy's emotional support, as she clutched his hand and felt him rub the back of it with his thumb. She also knew she had to look Jason in the eyes when she told him this; otherwise, he would go off, every time something bad was said.

"Yes, I do," Jason said, grabbing Trini's hand, by Tommy and Trini's actions, he could tell that he was going to soon be fighting what Tommy was right now. Although he was not quite sure what would cause that, as he would surely not me in uniform now.

"Well, when I went to Florida, I met this guy named Richard Myles. He definitely wasn't Tommy, but I thought he was a nice guy, until he started stalking me. I tried to ride it off as my imagination, but it turned into more than that as the days went by. At first, he just took things from my room and showed up at odd places. Then, one day, he attacked Ally and me, but soon left Ally alone, to turn his attention towards me. I was the one he wanted to go after. He…he tried to…he tried to rape me, but I fought him off," Kim said, as Jason clenched and unclenched the hand that was not crushing Trini's. He felt the anger and hatred building up inside of him and he took in a deep breath and slowly let it out, before looking Kim back in the eyes. "He tried to get to me two more times, but I managed to fight him off each time. Then, one day he disappeared. I found out later that he was put in jail for raping a woman and now he's working for Pizza Hut and Mesogogg."

"Pinkie," Jason murmured shaking his head. They had all gotten into the habit of calling each other some version of their color, although Kim's had stuck the longest, maybe because she still wore the color so often. "Why can't we go after him?"

"Because, he has powers that you don't have anymore. Neither one of you is going to die because of him," Kim said, as Jason downed half of the bottle of beer in one swallow and then looked over at Kim again. She was being torn apart by how this man made her feel and he wanted so bad to give her a hug and tell her that it would all go away, but he knew that in order to get it to go away, she would have to fight him, again. This time though, it would likely be to the death, which was something neither Jason nor Tommy liked to think about.

"She doesn't want you to go to jail or even worse, die Jason," Trini said, trying to calm down Jason, as his hand started to tremble, as he held hers tighter.

"I don't care, the son of a bitch deserves to die!" Jason yelled, as Trini held him down on the couch, while Tommy passed him another beer. There were no sobs tonight, he was pissed off about all of this. "No, Tommy, I don't want it. Is that who delivered the pizzas?"

"Yes," Tommy said, rather calmly, as it seemed Jason was voicing all the things that he had never said. Kim was watching how Tommy did not even attempt to restrain him and she knew that it was because he felt the same, but he would have never told her that. He didn't want to upset her anymore than she was already, but she felt herself becoming more upset as Jason continued to swear and yell.

"Jason, all you are doing is upsetting her even more," Trini said, jolting Jason out of his rage. He looked over to see Kim biting her lip and swallowing the sobs that had formed in her throat. He needed to hit something, but there was nothing in the room that he wouldn't break in one blow and it was going to take more than that to calm him down this time. This man had managed to thoroughly piss him off and he didn't even know him.

"The punching bag is in the command center, Jase," Tommy said, having caught Jason's glances at the furniture. He watched Jason make a beeline for the trapdoor, leaving Trini by herself. He looked at Kim and then decided to follow Jason, he had been holding in his anger since Wednesday and Trini could take care of her for a few minutes. "Hold up, I need to release some anger, too."

"Kim, are you gonna be alright?" Trini asked, moving from one couch to the other. Jason's reaction had been expected, but it had to be rough knowing that they were seriously contemplating going after this man, no matter what they said to try and detour them from it. They had both been like this as long as they could remember and Trini was now experiencing the full fear that Kim had been taking for several years now. When Jason had done stuff like this before, she didn't feel like she had the right to show how she felt, but every time, Kim would show it and Trini felt like she was her outlet. Now she was an outlet for herself and she did not like feeling this way. The worry was almost enough to overwhelm anyone, especially when they were dealing with something like this, something that they knew could do what they threatened to do.

"Yeah, I'm just scared," Kim said, wiping her eyes. Trini's shoulder was all right to cry on, but she wanted Tommy to be up there, she needed him to be up there. She had never been this worried about him before, even when he had been captured or evil. They had always managed to pull themselves through those rough times, somehow. Now, they were so close to having what they always wanted, but that could be taken away from them if they weren't careful. She knew and respected that, unlike Tommy. He was wonderful about most other things, but times like this was when she wondered if she really could deal with marrying one of the best rangers that had ever lived, knowing that he was always willing to go into that next battle. No matter what that battle might hold in store for him. "Trini it's one thing when the monsters would attack and Tommy would get in trouble, but this man wants to kill him and it seems that he'll do anything to achieve that goal. Trini, he nearly raped me and he was stupid enough to show himself to me and now Tommy. He's not in his right mind and that is what worries me more than anything else, if he comes after Tommy, the power isn't there to protect him any more."

"Tommy can take care of himself, Kim," Trini said, giving her friend a hug and feeling the sobs struggling to get out. She hated seeing her best friend like this, but she understood that Kim had to get this out. She had kept it inside of her for way to long as it was. "He escaped from Mesogogg and that damned island this summer without any powers, don't lose your faith in his abilities, just because he can no longer morph into the white ranger. He has gotten himself out of some sticky situations before and he will again, but this seems like something the two of you need to talk about."

"We have, but he's not scared of this man. He's not scared of anything," Kim said, not noticing that Jason and Tommy had emerged from the basement. It had only taken a few, well planned, punches to diminish their anger to a manageable size and now they had returned to sit and listen, if that was what was needed. "Trini, if he dies, I couldn't live with myself, but he still wants to go after that man. I'd do it myself, but he won't so much as let me out of his sight without someone being with me."

"Well, didn't you expect him to be like this?" Trini asked, looking up and seeing them, but Tommy put a finger over his lips to silence her. He wanted to know the answer to this just as much as she did.

"Yes, but not this bad," Kim said, sitting up and looking Trini in the eyes. "He's all I have, Trini. I can't lose him. I've lost him once before, out of my own doing. I can't live through that again, no matter how much everyone says that it will get better. If he was to die, I might as well go with him. I can't live without him, I've tried and it doesn't work, I'm miserable without him in my life."

"You won't lose me," Tommy said, as he picked a piece of pizza out of the box and handed it to Kim. She started to nibble on the food as Tommy went to dig around for a movie to watch. He knew that it couldn't be a scary or drama filled movie tonight, so they would have to settle for a comedy or heavens forbid a chick flick. Now, if he could only find that group of movies. Lately they had been watching chick-flicks, but Tommy knew Jason well enough to know that he would put his foot down and possibly through the carpeted floor, if that showed up on the television screen, no matter how much he loved Trini and Kim. He could not stand those movies and they both knew that. "Go ahead and dig in, just remember to leave me some food."

"We will," Jason said, passing a bottle of water to Kim. She had never been much of a drinker and he wasn't usually, but when things got tough, he tended to always need a bottle or two, to calm him down. Tommy must have been feeling the very same way lately, as he had one in his hands as well. Whew, if they could just get through this one without killing someone, then they would definitely start some sort of support group, because their nerves would be so fried that they would need it for themselves. The only thing was when would they ever find time to give the support that would be needed, as their other 'job' would be likely to get in the way.

"What did you choose?" Trini asked, after taking a sip of Jason's drink, while he smiled at her, as she really did make him happy. Jason hadn't thought to bring her anything, as they had always shared drinks, even before they started dating. She didn't necessarily like beer, but she didn't feel like getting up to get herself something to drink. She was too emotionally drained for one day and she didn't want to risk Jason getting fired up again and her not being there to restrain him, as Tommy did not seem to be any good at that tonight.

"Rush Hour. I don't think any of us need anything too serious tonight," Tommy said, looking down at the half-full bottle and taking another sip, before sitting down next to Kim. He didn't want to get drunk tonight, but his tolerance for alcohol had grown over the past few years and he had gotten enough in his system to calm him, some. The only way he would ever be fully calm would be when Richard was gone from their life, but he knew that it could take Kim quite a while to consent to letting them do what was necessary. Mesogogg wasn't going to hold back with the rangers, so why should they hold back against his help?

"Good," Jason said, settling in to watch the movie, with Trini leaning up against his side. He had never thought that they would become what Kim and Tommy were, but they had and he was happy for it to be that way. When he looked over at them, it hurt to see that Kim was clutching her arms around Tommy's waist, trying to make the fear go away by burying her face in his chest and letting him hold the worry away. Kim had always been one of their strongest people, especially after Tommy being captured as many times as he had been, she always held a confident front, behind the tears that were shed. But knowing this one man could bring her down to this unnerved him and he could tell Trini felt the same. Why had he chosen her and not someone else to go after all of those years ago? He knew that many guys had been attracted to one of his best friend's and he couldn't help but wonder if knowing that he could not have her because of Tommy was what pushed the man to do something this rash. "Kim, don't worry about it. It's all going to work itself out."

"Jason, that is the one thing that I can not stop doing," Kim said, noticing Tommy's sad smile. He was still eating his pizza, but he hadn't forced her to eat another slice. At this point, he was just happy that she had eaten anything at all. Wednesday night and all day Thursday, she had barely put any food in her mouth and it worried him. She didn't have the energy to do gymnastics, teach school all day, and not eat, so he had been forcing her to, and she was glad that he did. Otherwise, she probably would have fainted from the stress of it all and she didn't want to add anymore stress to Tommy at this point.

"Okay," Jason said, as the other two tried to feel out what their friends were thinking. Tommy knew it would only be a matter of time before Richard tried to come after her again and when he did, he knew he wouldn't be able to hold himself back, especially if he tried to harm her. He had tried to take everything away from her and almost succeeded, but she had managed to get Tommy back and he was not going to let go of her without a fight. Even if that fight cost him his life, he didn't have a choice, he would give up anything for her and she knew that, but his ultimate sacrifice would tear her up more than Richard showing up unexpectedly on their front porch steps would. He knew that he couldn't do that to her, not if he could find a way around all of it.

The movie calmed all of them, while it was on, but the second it was over the tension returned in the room. Jason could tell Trini was struggling with all of this, but could not bring herself to upset Kim anymore, by asking questions that she wanted answered. She had always tried to think things out and deliver them in the nicest way possible. There was no nice way to do any of this and they all knew that. Jason looked over; to see that Kim had fallen asleep, with Tommy watching her carefully, ready to wake her up if the nightmares started again. The last two nights, after forcing her to go to sleep, she had, had the worst nightmares she had, had in years and Tommy woke her up each time and calmed her back into a deep sleep. If he was worried, he was doing a very good job hiding it. Although, Kim usually was able to take up most of his mental capacity when they were in any room together, which meant that the worry could be far from his mind because he was so enthralled by her presence.

"I'm going to take her up to bed," Tommy whispered, shifting himself under her, so that he would be able to pick her up easily. He didn't want to wake her up, so he was being more careful than he usually was, as sleep had been hard to come by for her for the past few days. Since she was sleeping so soundly, he definitely did not want to disturb that by making her uncomfortable in his arms.

"Alright bro, but when you get back down here, we need to talk about all of this," Jason said, as Trini nodded, sleepily, in agreement. It took Tommy a little while to get her settled in, but when he returned, the worry was evident. They had expected it, but they couldn't read past the worried expression on his face as they usually could at a time like this. Usually there was something good that could come of it, but this time, there was nothing good to take away the worry there.

"I'm glad that she's sleeping good right now," Tommy said, sinking down into the same position he had been in when he collapsed on the couch a few weeks earlier. Jason and Trini both picked up on the position he had took, which brought even more irony into the situation. This had all started when he came back, unexpectedly, from that damned island, with the announcement that there was a new evil out there for them to fight. Why couldn't these things just leave them alone for a little while? It didn't seem like it was too much to ask two years ago, but they had not gotten the break from the action that they thought they would. Tommy would never admit it to them, but they could tell that the one thing he wanted more than anything was for the evil to stop being interested in Earth, but until then they would be rangers. There was nothing else they could to about that and they had to keep up a brave face for the new team. "It's been rough these last few days."

"Tommy, does that man really want to kill you or do you think that Kim may have taken what he said the wrong way?" Trini asked, sitting up and receiving a rather disgruntled pout from Jason. He would have kept her where she was, but she felt that she needed to sit up to ask Tommy this question. She needed to be able to look him in the eyes and see the answer, as well as hear it.

"Yeah, I think he does. If he didn't, Kim wouldn't be this upset about it. At least I don't think that she would be," Tommy said, as Trini took on the same look of horror Kim had, had when she told him about all of this, only a few days before. They were so much alike that it was scary, but Tommy didn't want to point that out right now. It didn't seem appropriate when all of it was caused by one man's sinister plans to end his life, in some way.

"Tommy, you have to be careful," Trini said, trying to keep from tearing up, but she found herself failing, as Jason sat up and looked over at her. It would tear all of them apart if Tommy was killed, but she knew that the ones it would get to the worse would be Jason and Kim. They were the ones that were the closest to him and everyone knew that. Jason had reached a hand out to put over Trini's and she felt him give hers a gentle squeeze, as she started crying at the situation. "You don't understand how she feels."

"I hate to tell you this, but I know exactly how she feels and I can't let that man keep doing this to her," Tommy said, putting his face in his hands. How do could he explain to her that every time Kim cried, he was so torn up inside that, he could barely function? There was no way to explain that, unless they felt the same and not many people loved her the way that he did. It wasn't that Trini didn't care about her, but it was that she had Jason and always would unless something happened to him. He wouldn't have anyone, if they got to her first and he knew that with every fiber of his being, now. This new creature was willing to go for the heart, as well as the physical being, if his heart was hurt, he might as well be handed over to them on a silver platter. He could not fight when she was there for him and was not planning to go away. "Trini, the thing is, I can't deal with her crying every night because she is scared that he is going to come after her. It kills me to see her like that Trini. I'm not looking for a fight, but he has to stop or I'll do something. I can't stand to see her in this type of pain; I have never been able to stand it. That's the bottom line, Trini."

"Whatever you do, just let me know. I want to help," Jason said, as Trini broke down into sobs. Why did she have to choose now to break down? He felt the same way that Tommy felt about all of this, but he had to walk a very thin line if Trini was going to let him sleep in the same room with her tonight. "Trini, Tommy would do the same thing if the tables were turned and you know that."

"Yeah and Kim would be a wreck, too. If Tommy was talking about going with you after some maniac that wanted to kill you. I'm just trying to hold up my end of the deal," Trini said, as Jason tried to comfort her, but it was proving to be harder than normal. She was just as rattled as Tommy had thought she would be and he hated to know that this was all, inadvertently, caused by him.

"Tommy, can we finish this tomorrow?" Jason asked, picking Trini up off the couch and helping her up the stairs. He knew that he needed to calm himself down as well, so he would be able to think rationally again. Tomorrow, they could talk about all of this, when the girls weren't around. When they could, be completely honest with each other about how they felt and when they could talk about what they might have to do if the man ever showed himself again, which they hated to admit was very likely.

"Sure," Tommy said, going into the kitchen and grabbing another bottle of beer from the refrigerator. It had been a long time since he had drank this much, but this hadn't been an ordinary week and he hoped that he would be able to talk with Jason about all of this tomorrow, while Trini and Kim went to look for bridesmaid's dresses. He soon went to sleep on the couch, beer still in hand. His sleep that night was not a peaceful sleep as he hoped it would be, but at least he got some sleep.

_Mesogogg's Punishment _

"You have done what?" Mesogogg asked, enraged at his help's incompetence. When he asked for Richard's help, he had thought he was a competent person, but it was obvious now that he was not. He had picked someone that was enthralled in Kimberly Hart's presence and was willing to do anything to get her, including risking the entire mission.

"I have revealed myself to Kimberly Hart. I am sorry master, but it was too tempting to not talk to her," Richard said, kneeling on one knee as he prepared himself to receive his punishment. He knew that everything he felt for the woman was still there, but he hated Tommy Oliver and if he could only get to him, then maybe they would have a chance at setting things right.

"Does Dr. Oliver know?" Mesogogg asked, pulling out his staff and gingerly pointing it in Richard's general vicinity. He had not had to punish anyone, but Richard was about to become an example for the other two numbskulls that did his dirty work. He had thoroughly enraged him this time and now it was necessary that he be punished for his ludicrous actions.

"Yes, master. I am sure that she told him everything," Richard said, as a ray of energy hit him and after a few seconds, he was seizing on the floor. Mesogogg waited until it got to the point that even his stomach couldn't take it and then he let him go.

"Do not disappoint me again or you will receive more of that," Mesogogg leered, as Richard crawled out of the room. He had messed up, but there was no going back. He had to somehow fix the damage he had done, but that might not be possible anymore and he had not thought of that before making contact with Kim. Tommy had been lucky earlier that evening, but one-day he was going to get his revenge on the great Dr. Oliver, if it was the last thing he ever did.

AN: I know that this has been a rather lengthy chapter and that it has been drama filled. I hope that you like it and that you will review, if not that is alright with me. Until next time, happy reading!


	13. A Busy Day in Reefside

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**XRachX:** Thank you and I'm glad that you really have enjoyed it, so far, but I know that this chapter has taken awhile to get out, as I have been a little bit busy, but I hope that you like it anyway.

**Emma Lahana:** Thank you and I may take you up on that someday down the road.

**danhyde girl:** Sometimes the chapters have to be on the mushy side, just to get the point across, but I'm glad that you like it and thanks for the review!

**Hamsher52:** I know that you're not the only one who feels that way, but it'll be a little while before anything happens to him.

Now, on with the Story!

_A Busy Saturday in Reefside _

The next morning Kim woke up dazed and confused as to how she had gotten up the stairs and into bed last night. She could not remember leaving the couch the night before or even changing clothes, for that matter. Actually, to be quite honest, she couldn't remember anything from the night before, as she stared at the ceiling, wondering what had happened to make her forget all of it. She rolled over to see that Tommy's side of the bed was empty and assumed that he had let her sleep in, although one look at the clock told her otherwise. It was barely six o'clock on a Saturday and she knew Tommy was not up this early on a weekend, not unless he had just woken up that early and she highly doubted that. She was lucky to even get him out of bed by 7:30 most mornings, as to try to get them both to school on time and he barely made it on those days. She tried going back to sleep, but soon gave up on this pursuit and headed downstairs to try to find some comfort or at least a person that she could snuggle with for a little while.

Upon entering the living room, she noticed Tommy was asleep on the couch, half-empty beer bottle still in hand, tilting towards the carpeted area of the floor. He must have carried her upstairs and then came back down to think about some things that had happened this week; not that she blamed him at all. This last week had been rough on the both of them and it could get worse if they weren't careful. Richard was a man that was determined to cause trouble between the two of them and would if they allowed him to. She planned on letting him sleep some more, while she wandered down into the command center, to see if anything happened overnight, but he seemed to sense her presence and awoke any ways.

"Mornin' beautiful," Tommy said, groggily, as he woke up and saw her standing in the living room, looking down at him forwhat come have been only a few seconds. She was much more of a morning person than he would ever be and he was very lucky she was there. Otherwise, he wouldn't have made it to school some mornings this year. He could tell that she had not made a trip to the restroom this morning as she still had bed head, but none of that mattered to him. He was just happy that she seemed to have gotten a good night's sleep the night before, which alleviated him from feeling guilty about not sleeping in the same bed with her last night. If she had, had any nightmares and he had not been up there, then he would have felt just horrible right now.

"Good morning," Kim said, sitting down on the couch and giving him a kiss on the cheek while gingerly taking the bottle out of Tommy's hands and placing it on the coffee table. He didn't look to have a hangover, thank goodness, but she wanted to make sure that he didn't have the excuse to drink this early, just because it was there.

"You ready for your day?" Tommy asked, having expected Kim to be much more perky about finally going to find a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses for their wedding. She had been putting it off until Trini had a weekend to help her and now that it was finally here, she seemed to not be excited at all and he knew Richard could not take the excitement out of shopping for Kim, no one could do that.

"What's going on today?" Kim asked, looking over at Tommy as he stared at her in shock and disbelief. She had never forgotten a shopping day before today; maybe Richard got to her more than he thought he had. He continued to stare at her at a loss for words and it finally got to the point that she became truly concerned about his odd actions. "Tommy, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Tommy said, as Kim leaned on his chest and he automatically put his arms around her. She couldn't help but look up at him, confused, when he said that he was all right. He was acting very odd, to be all right, if you asked her and she did know him fairly well, even with spending a few years apart. "You really have forgotten, haven't you?"

"Forgotten what, Tommy?" Kim asked, as her own confusion only increased at his statement of inquiry. What was supposed to go on today, that she had forgotten, that would shock him this much?

"That you are going wedding dress shopping today," Tommy said slowly, as Kim's eyes widened at how she had forgotten all of it, overnight. She had forgotten that Trini and Jason were upstairs, still asleep in the guest bedroom and that Trini and she were planning to find bridesmaid dresses' and her own dress later on during the morning. She must have been much more out of it than she realized, until now. Maybe she did need to go back to sleep, just to clear her head of whatever was keeping it from thinking clearly.

"Oh man, you're really rubbing off on me," Kim said, with a smile and a play slap to Tommy's face. Tommy then reached his other arm over, acting as if he was going to hug her carefully, but decided to mercilessly tickle her stomach instead. "Tommy! Stop! This is no fair!"

"It's plenty fair," Tommy said, pulling her pack down onto the couch when she tried to escape from his grasp and make a run for the stairs. So what if they woke Jason and Trini up, at least they would know that the two of them were still alive, after all of the crap that went on last night, namely Richard showing up on their front door step.

"How is it fair?" Kim said, struggling beneath him to remove his hands from her sides and cease his tickling, but she could only manage to keep them away for a few seconds at a time, before he would start tickling her again. How was she going to get out of this? "You're bigger than I am, Tommy."

"You always figured out a way to get out of it when we were back in high school, Kim," Tommy said, with a sly grin as he continued to tickle her sides. She then seemed to have a light bulb click on in her head, as she reached up to pull Tommy into a kiss, maybe that would stop the tickling from his end, and it did.

"Get a room," Jason said, walking into the living room and throwing a pillow at the pair on the couch, which successfully landed on Tommy's head. Trini had decided to take a shower before she headed downstairs, but he wanted to see what all of the commotion was that had awakened them from their peaceful slumber. Tommy's guest room, did not have a crappy mattress like their own, which meant they were going to have to buy a couple of new mattresses before they came to visit them again, but then again, Tommy and Kim probably wouldn't even notice.

"Sorry, Jase, do you want some breakfast?" Kim asked, as Tommy rolled off her and she stood to head to the kitchen, as both of their blushes were starting to recede.

"Thanks, but no, Tommy and I will get something on the way to the dojo this morning. I hear that you have a class in about an hour," Jason said, as Tommy's eyes widened and he bolted from his position on the couch, heading straight towards the stairs. He did not know how he could have forgotten that he had a class to teach at eight o'clock today. His advanced students had been working hard and he thought that they might want to go up against someone other than him, so that was where Jason came in. Maybe he would get some of them to work harder, as a few had been slacking a lot lately. "I still don't know how he remembers to put on his underwear some days, with the memory that he has."

"That is where I come in," Kim said, as she headed up stairs, to make sure Tommy had a pair of clean karate pants to change into after he took a shower. He was bound to be running late already, by his reaction, and she was fairly sure that he would forget something, if it wasn't all laid out for him and he did not seem to be in the mood to take that today.

Within the next hour, the Hart/Oliver residence was cleared of its occupants. The ladies heading to several of the bridal boutiques in town and the men going to the dojo, for a three hour class, which was much longer than any class they had had in a long time, as Tommy knew this would be the only oppurtunity this class got to spar against anyone besides Rocky or himself. They had agreed to meet up for lunch and from there go to get some other things that they would need for their wedding, namely their rings, which had still not been purchased.

_Finding the Dress _

"Trini, I have no idea what I want to buy for myself or even you," Kim said, as they climbed in her car and headed towards the shopping district of Reefside. She had, had very little time to think about her dress lately and she was hoping that she could find one today, although she doubted it in some ways. She had an idea of what she wanted her bridesmaids to wear, but she didn't know what she wanted herself to wear, which was not good. She wanted to shock Tommy, but she did not know how she was going to do that, as he had gotten more used to seeing her in one of his, various, signature colors.

"Kim, that's not like you. You haven't thought about it any?" Trini asked, pulling her hair into a long ponytail and looking over at her best friend. She was shocked that Kim would not have any idea what she wanted, everyone had thought she had this planned since she first met Tommy, all of those years ago, but Trini was the only one who knew about the continued concerns on her end. If something were to happen, while Tommy was helping the rangers, before the wedding, she would never forgive herself for not being out there with him in that particular situation. Trini had doubted that Tommy would ever go back into action, full time, unless they all did, to do away with Mesogogg and that would be a long way down the road or so she hoped, but their conversation last night changed her mind. Tommy was willing to go back into action, to protect Kim, at whatever price he had to pay, although Trini was sure she did not even want to hear about that option at the moment. All she wanted to think was that Tommy would stay put, in the command center, although they knew that was very unlikely, by what he had been doing already.

"It's not that I haven't thought about it Trini, it's that every time I have, I think of something different that I want for myself. I just want Tommy to like me in the dress; I don't care if the rest of the world hates it that's all that matters to me," Kim said, as Trini caught a hint of sadness in her voice. Although she had no clue why Kim would be sad about any of this, as she was finally getting to marry Tommy, the man that she had been in love with since the day that she met him at the Juice Bar. Unless something was going on with her family and there was always a chance of that, which was very sad.

"Your parents going to be able to make it?" Trini asked, as Kim inhaled a shaky breath at the mention of her parents. Her mom, had already sent her the travel plans she was making, which would have her arriving in Reefside a week before the wedding to help them with some of the last minute plans, but her father, well he was another story in itself.

"My mom, will, she's going to come in a week before the wedding, but Dad hasn't gotten in touch with me yet, although Kenny has. He said if Dad doesn't show that day, then he'll walk me down the aisle," Kim said, taking one hand off the wheel and taking a swallow of water from the bottle she had brought with her. She knew this subject was bound to come up with Trini, but she had hoped that it would not have been on this particular visit to Reefside. She had already had enough stressful things happen this week and this was just reminding her of one more problem that was going on in her life.

"Kim, I'm sure he'll make it to the wedding. He always liked Tommy, when you were in high school, and he knows that he makes you happy. That's what is important," Trini said, as Kim could only give her a sad smile. She hadn't talked to Tommy about it and probably wouldn't, unless her father didn't show at all. He already had so much on his mind, with having to deal with the new rangers, school, the dojo, and now Richard. She didn't want to burden him with one more thing to worry about. Although, she had the sneaking suspicion that he had overheard the conversation she had, had with her brother a few weeks ago, and was already preparing himself for the potential upset that could befall them.

"That was before all of this happened and now, I have no clue what he thinks of Tommy or me, for that matter. When we went to defeat Nicarni-Aso, I missed a dinner he had invited me to with his job, I had thought I would be able to make it. I called him when we got back and tried to explain, but he said he understood and I left it at that, but I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't show up," Kim said, pulling her black Honda Accord into a vacant parking spot. It was going to be a long day of shopping if they didn't choose the right stores and she knew that. "Let's shop for all of you first, then we can look for me."

"Oh no, Mrs. Oliver. I can choose some bridesmaid things, if you'll give me the criteria for it. You are the one that they need to be looking at, not us, so let's start with you first," Trini said, as Kim gave her a smile and a quick hug before they entered David's Bridal. It was nice to have her best friend there for her, when she needed her the most.

"Thanks, Trini. I was thinking about a dark green for all of you. I know that it would mean a lot to Tommy if we tried to bring in our colors," Kim said, as Trini looked at her in shock. She had fully expected to be put in some shade of pink and was willing to do that for Kim, but Kim had something else in mind, something no one would expect, not even the fellow rangers.

"Kim, does Tommy know about any of this?" Trini asked, apprehensive to what her friend was planning for the wedding. If Tommy knew what was going on, it would all be fine, but if he didn't, things would not be likely to go well.

"Yeah, he does, although he doesn't understand why I want to use most of his colors, not my own color. I want him to be as happy as I am and this will make him happy," Kim said, as Trini nodded her head and followed behind Kim as she looked at the dresses. Several had caught her eye already, but she was a little bit hesitant to pick up any, as she was not in the mood to try on many dresses today. After awhile she had picked up five dresses, each with its own special qualities, but which one would knock Tommy's socks off? She could only hope that it would be one in her pile or she would have to go out and select some more dresses.

"I found some to try on too, you don't mind, do you?" Trini asked, holding up a few bridesmaid gowns and two piece sets, as they were trying to fit a multitude of body types. Kim would ultimately choose the dress as it looked on her, but Trini hoped that she would take into consideration all of the others and deep down, she knew that she would.

"No, I don't Trini. That would actually help a lot," Kim said, as she went to slip into the first dress in her small pile. If she did not find her dress in this pile, then she would have to look some more, although they were planning to meet Tommy and Jason for a late lunch and they were going to have to get a move on if they were going to do that.

"Kim, we have a problem," Trini said, stepping out in a dark green dress, that managed to hit her mid calf, which she knew Kim did not want. It looked long enough on the rack, but obviously, it was not long enough for her.

"Trini, maybe you need to get out of the petite section," Kim said, walking out in a halter dress, with a long train, which she knew she would be lucky to not trip over on the way down the aisle. Her clumsiness was known, amongst their friends and she did not want to have any extra excuses on that day. She was going to be nervous enough as is, and the last thing she needed to worry about was tripping over her own two feet while walking down the aisle. That would just make for some beautiful wedding pictures.

"And maybe you need to go back into the petite section, Kim, that dress swallows you whole," Trini said, as the fabric puddled at Kim's feet. There had been times when she wished that she was Kim's height, but now was not one of those times.

"I know, but maybe the next one will be better," Kim said, going back into her dressing room and unzipping the dress. She looked at the next one on the hanger and sighed, it was by no means her favorite, but maybe it would look all right on her. They spent the next hour trying on various dresses and had managed to find the bridesmaid dresses before noon, but they were still looking for hers then. She hated to call the guys and tell them that they would be late, but she got the feeling that there class had run a little over, as neither Tommy nor Jason answered their cell phones.

"Kim, what's taking so long?" Trini asked, as Kim had taken ten minutes to change from her last dress into this one. She could only hope that Kim had not had an emotional breakdown from all of the stress and the lack of finding a dress she really liked.

"Nothing, do you like it?" Kim asked, walking out in yet another wedding dress. Trini could only stare, as her friend walked over to look in the full-length mirror. Tommy was going to love that dress, she had no doubt about that one, now if only she could make sure that she bought it.

"You have to get that one," Trini said, as Kim smiled and spun around happily. It had taken them a lot longer than she had hoped, but they had managed to find a dress that met Kim's standards. They had decided on a dark green spaghetti strapped dresses for the bridesmaids and her dress just seemed to make the fairytale come true.

_Karate Class _

"Hey everybody," Tommy said, as Jason and he walked into the dojo, carrying bags of extra clothes with them. Jason had only been inside the place a handful of times and he still could not believe how nice of a place it was. There were days when he wished that he had opened his own dojo in Angel Grove, but other things had caught his eye, namely helping kids with sports' injuries. He had, had enough of his own to know what a pain it was to go through it, with no rehab available at school and now he was Angel Grove High School's athletic trainer, as well as the middle schools, when they needed him. He could have never taught the way that Tommy did, but he still liked his, somewhat, limited involvement with the kids and every once in a while, Ernie called him up to do an exposition, so it wasn't that bad. If he had, had to leave his karate lifestyle in the past, completely, he wouldn't have been happy, but that was what his friends were for.

"Who's the new guy, Dr. O?" Conner asked, his curiosity peaked as the man looked vaguely familiar, although he could not place exactly where he had saw him from before. As he knew that he should know who he was, just by Tommy's facial expression that occured when he asked the question. He had missed a class earlier this week and he knew he needed the extra practice, even if he wasn't with people of his own ability level. He was more than willing to admit that they would probably whoop his ass, as Tommy had a few times already, but Tommy had insisted they make three classes a week, no exceptions. He was beginning to be glad that he did, as they had made enough progress to where Tommy didn't necessarily have to be in the battle, which was good, considering the amount of time they had been at it.

"This is Jason Scott, everyone. He's an old friend of mine and he's here to help some of you, refocus on this class. I think some of you have gotten too used to me and my teaching style, so maybe he will help you," Tommy said, as Jason nodded a hello to the class and saw shock showing up in one boy's eyes. This was the first red ranger that he was looking at and he could not believe that he was lucky enough to meet him, but he could not go haywire with everyone else around. They just thought it was one of Tommy's friends, nothing more, nothing less.

"Ashley," Tommy said, calling her over to where Jason and he stood, at the edge of one mat after they had finished sparring with each other. She needed a confidence boost, after the past two, rocky, weeks and Jason would help give her that, while he gave Charlie the workout of his life. "Will you work out with Jason today, so I can give Charlie some pointers?"

"Dr. Oliver, I have something to tell you," Ashley said, looking up at her teacher, with some apprehension in her eyes. She just hoped that it wasn't too late for them to agree to be the co-ed team, although she didn't know about anyone else that he had offered it to, as she was sure that news would have spread around their class like wild fire.

"You're not quitting on me, are you?" Tommy asked, as Charlie walked up behind her and placed a hand on his shoulder. Well, at least Charlie wasn't mad at her, which was a good sign and that was almost a sure-fire way of knowing that she was not quitting the program, thank goodness.

"No, we are going to take up the co-ed team position, if it's still open," Charlie said, as Tommy smiled and shook his head in disbelief.

"So the two of you are dating now?" Tommy asked, as Ashley blushed and gave him a sheepish grin. Several of the other members of their class were watching, hoping that the two of them had finally realized what they should have been doing for a long time.

"You have to excuse him," Jason said, looking over at Tommy, as the girl stepped away from Tommy and back into the boy's open arms. Well, maybe he was right, but why did he choose to ask her about it now?

"We're used to it by now," Charlie said, with a grin and gave Ashley a gentle shove towards Jason. She looked back at Charlie, a little bit worried about having to go up against Jason, as she knew nothing about him. If he was anything like Tommy, then she would be icing down some bruises later on that afternoon and she didn't particularly want to go through that today.

"I'm not that bad," Jason said, with a smile, as he sensed the girl's nervousness at having to go up against a complete and total stranger. He was going to test her, but he did not want to overwhelm her, yet. If she was anywhere close to being his equal, then he would lay it on her, but he was going to start out easy, just to be on the safe side. "Is it because I'm one of Tommy's friends?"

"Yeah, he's kinda rough on us," Ashley said, as Jason laughed at her gentle description of Tommy's teaching style and karate in general. He could only imagine what he did to his advanced students and they would not appreciate it until they were long gone from here, possibly working in dojo's like this one.

"Don't hold anything back. I've been around him long enough to know most of his shortcomings," Jason said, as he took his position across from her on the mat. _'Let's see what Tommy has been teaching these kids.'_

"Tommy, you sure she's gonna be alright with him?" Charlie said, watching as Ashley took a tentative stance on the mats, in front of the much stronger looking Jason Scott. He would have rather went up against Jason first and then let her go up against him later. That way they would know if he were anywhere near as bad as Tommy, which was what they all suspected after seeing the two of them go at it.

"Charlie, don't worry about her, Jason is not as aggressive as I am, by any means," Tommy said, as Ashley landed a kick square in Jason's chest and watched him flinch, out of partial shock at what had happened. Jason then stole a glance over at Tommy and Charlie, which assured him that this girl could take the worst that he had to dish out to her. Well, maybe he should treat her like Trini, which was something he was scared to do. She was only a kid and he didn't want to add any more pressure to her, as he already felt that she had a great deal of pressure on her shoulders. "Come on, you're working with me today."

"I'm what?" Charlie asked, as Tommy stood across from him on the mat. He looked like he had some things on his mind and Charlie wasn't sure if he was ready for this today. There were some days when it was a close draw between the two of them, but today, he got the feeling that he was going to be no match for Tommy and whatever was going on in his mind.

"You're going against me, you alright with that?" Tommy asked, as Charlie nodded his head and they soon went to work against each other. After about an hour, neither had given in to each other ploys and some of the others had stopped to watch them spar, except for Jason and Ashley. Who were busily working on trying to get each other to breakdown, but that had not happen yet either.

"No fair," Ashley said, as Jason tripped her up, over her own two feet no less, as he had made a swift approach for a roundhouse kick. She caught herself before her face crashed into the mat, but she had managed to jar one of her elbows, as she had not expected the fall. She rolled over to look up at Jason and just shake her head, sure he wasn't as bad as Tommy, that's a laugh.

"Let me help you up," Jason said, offering a hand to help Ashley up off the mats. As she extended her arm, she watched Tommy and Charlie spar, but something else caught her attention. Charlie had stopped concentrating on what he was doing when she had fallen and Tommy took advantage of that by kicking him in the side. Charlie then snapped back to reality as the pain traveled through him. If he were going to make it out of this meet with any more bruises, he had to concentrate on Tommy's actions and nothing else. "Ouch."

"Yeah," Ashley said, standing up and watching Charlie shake off the blow before turning his attention back to Tommy. Ashley looked fine, so he knew that Jason wasn't taking it too hard on her or so he desperately hoped. "He'll be alright, nothing a little ice won't cure."

"You sound like Kim," Jason said, as he remembered sometimes that Tommy and he had exchanged blows like that. She had always been the one there with an ice pack and Band-Aids, if they needed them and he could remember days when he wished that she would have been there to offer those, but she wasn't. She was truly scared to be at something that Tommy might even happen to accidentally show up at, not that any of these kids knew that one from looking at the two of them, but those that did were happy that it had all been resolved. "Come on, I think you've done enough for today. Why don't we go make sure that Tommy doesn't kill your boyfriend?"

"Ow," Charlie mumbled as he hit the mat, face first. Tommy hadn't been joking when he said he was going to work them hard, but this was a little bit ridiculous, as he had gone up against no one except him all day. There had to be some rulebook, somewhere that said that this was illegal, but until he found that rulebook, he was just going to have to deal with it and he knew that.

"Take it easy, man," Jason said, as the boy sat up and gave him a grateful smile, as he noticed it had pulled Tommy out of his full concentration he had, had while sparring against him. He looked to have been through a lot against Tommy today, but after looking at the girl, he seemed to calm down some. He wondered how many times he had looked at Trini the same way and Tommy or one of the others noticed it, while he tried to desperately keep it a secret. He later found out that it was well known among the rangers, but they didn't say anything, because he didn't say anything to them. They respected what he didn't want told, although they did not agree with his reasoning behind it in the least.

"Oops," Tommy said, reaching down to help Charlie up off the floor. The rest of the class had stopped working and were now waiting for Tommy to dismiss them, as it was his normal custom to let them out when he got tired on Saturday's. "Sorry, Charlie."

"It's alright, Tommy," Charlie said, as Kim and Trini entered the dojo, trying to be as discreet as possible, as if that was ever possible. A few of the guys let out some low whistles when they saw them, Conner included, which caused Tommy to turn and face the door. Good grief, if it wasn't teenage girls having a crush on him. Then the teenage boys were undressing Kim with their eyes, couldn't they just grow up.

"Guys, your teachers are over there," Kim said with a smile as she pointed towards where Jason and Tommy stood. Tommy placed a hand over his mouth to try to hide a smile that was forming on his lips, while Jason tilted his head back and laughed, at the looks on the boys' faces. She still had not changed, even with Richard being back in town.

"Class dismissed," Tommy said, hopping off of the mats and walking over to Kim. Trini had headed towards Jason the second he had started to talk. She looked happy, so he could only hope that she had found a dress today. "So, did you find a dress?"

"Yeah, but you're going to have to wait to see it," Kim said, with a grin, as he gave her a sweaty hug. At least that much was done, but they had to go get their rings later on this afternoon. The only thing was that they had to get some food first, no matter what Kim said, he was starving.

"I don't get a sneak preview?" Tommy asked, as she smiled up at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before pushing him towards the locker room and a change of clothes. No matter how much he wanted to just go to eat in the clothes he was wearing, he knew that most other people would not be as receptive to how he looked or smelled after sparring for almost three hours with Charlie and Jason, although he had sparred with Jason at the beginning, to loosen himself up.

"No, now go change," Kim said, as Trini walked back over to where they stood. The students were beginning to exit the building, but Conner had hung back, as he seemed to want to meet Jason, knowing exactly who he was. She spotted the boy looking at Jason and trying to figure out how to start the conversation that he wanted to have, but needing a lot of help in starting it without it coming out the wrong way. "Conner, he's only human."

"You're Conner?" Jason asked, looking over at the boy who had responded to Kim's words, with an open mind. He didn't seem like the type of ranger he would have picked, but there was a fire inside of him that he could see, just by taking one look in the boy's eyes and that was more important than the outward appearance, of any ranger, look at Billy for instance, although he had changed over the years.

"Yeah, I know that is a surprise," Conner said, offering a hand for Jason to shake and he was soon pulled into a hug by the old, veteran, ranger. "But I hope I can do half the job that you did."

"I didn't do anything that the rest of us wouldn't have done," Jason said, as Kim and Trini smiled at Jason's modesty about his abilities. He had done a lot more for them, than anyone would ever know, except the other rangers. There were some things that they just couldn't share with people outside of their world, but one-day that would all change or so they hoped. That would be the day, when they could finally hang up their hats and say that the Earth would never be in danger again. Then they would be allowed to tell all the people that were important to them about what they had been, for all of those years.

"It's nice to meet you, but I have to get going. Kira is playing at Hayley's in a little while and I think she would kill me if I missed it," Conner said, as he turned to exit the building.

"Same here, have fun," Jason said, as he watched Conner leave the building and Tommy came out of the locker room, ready to finish out their day, which would hopefully not have any unexpected surprises for them. "That's your red?"

"Yeah, he's still a little bit insecure, but he'll find his place," Tommy said, as the former red ranger shook his head at how much he would give to be sixteen again and living his life as a ranger, without another thing to worry about, except the other rangers getting hurt. Oh, that was the life.

"We all had those times, Tommy, even the best of us," Kim said thinking back to a time when Tommy had doubted his place on their team. The only reassurance that he had gotten was that Rita had chosen him because he could rival the rangers with the skills that he held, within himself. It was tough on all of them, but the times that they had shared were what they remembered, more than the problems they had experienced along the way. Although they could all think of some problems that were definitely more predominant than others.

"Yeah," Trini agreed as they headed out of the dojo and started walking towards their cars. "Where to next?"

"Lunch," Tommy said, as his stomach growled loud enough that it caught Kim's attention and he gave her a sheepish smile. He had managed to grab some Hardee's on his way to the dojo, but it was now wearing off. He knew that he should have eaten a heavier breakfast, but he had been running late this morning, as usual. "Then we can go to Mrs. Sipper's. She's bound to have something in there that the two of us will like."

"Where do you want to eat?" Jason asked, as he was the least picky eater out of the bunch. They could choose wherever they wanted, as long as he could sit down and eat, in peace and quiet.

"I don't care, just no health food," Tommy said, looking sharply at Trini and Kim. The two of them were always trying to keep themselves in shape, not that it was a bad thing, but he couldn't stand to go somewhere and eat rabbit food today.

"So you want meat today, Tommy?" Kim asked with a smile, as she thought of a place that Tommy was sure to like. There was a little hole in the wall restaurant, close to Sipper's Jewelry, which specialized in things that were definitely not healthy for you. Ally had been missing home cooking one-day, when she discovered the place and had dragged Kim along after teaching their advanced class. She had to admit that she had not tasted food like that since she left Florida and was glad that there was a place like this, for occasions when she needed some food that reminded her of the good times she had, had in Florida. "I know a little place, but you have to follow me."

"Alright," Tommy said, as Jason and he hopped into his jeep. He knew that he could trust her to find a place that would curb the carving he was having, without making it as obvious as he would have. "What do you think they found?"

"You know that no one is supposed to know what the bride is going to look like, especially the groom," Jason said, very pointedly, as he shook his head at Tommy's curiosity. Tommy had told him about the colors that Kim had chosen, which shocked him a bit, but there was no use in asking Kim why, it would only confuse him more. "Now, the only thing I am worried about is what the bridesmaid's are wearing. Why did Kim pick those colors?"

"That's a long story, Jase, but I'll try to condense it for you. First, she wanted it to go with the season, so she looked at dark colors, which automatically threw pink out. Secondly, she wanted it to do with our ranger colors, somehow. She knows how much being a ranger means to me, but I also know how much it means to her too. So the reception will be decorated more for her than me, we agreed on that much," Tommy said, thinking back to the tiny struggle they had, had over decorations, but in the end he had stopped it and let her do what she wanted. If she was happy, then they could get married in a shack in the middle of nowhere, without any guests and he would be fine with it.

"So, green, white, red, and pink?" Jason asked, skeptically looking at Tommy. Kim had pulled off some wild things before, but this was something he had to see to believe it. "How is she going to pull that one off?"

"Jason, I don't ask. If I did I probably wouldn't be able to see the answer that she would give me," Tommy said, as Kim could surely describe it to him in great detail, but he would need a drawing to be able to understand all of it. He was not going to ask her to draw it for him, as that would take too much of her time and patience to complete.

"It's one of those things?" Jason asked with a smile. All of the guys were going to get fitted for their tuxedos in Angel Grove on Tuesday, as that was where they were planning to hold the wedding. It was inconvenient for most of their wedding party to come to Reefside and besides, Angel Grove was where everything started for them and it was nice to be able to go back to it, sometimes.

"Jason, when you and Trini get married, come back and tell me if it is one of those things," Tommy said, looking at Jason, with a grin on his face. He had the feeling that Jason was going to pop the question sometime in the near future, if only he could get up the courage and with any luck, it would not take another heavy battle and a worst fear from hell to get him to do it this time. If it did take that, then they might be waiting another ten years before Jason finally felt enough pressure to ask her.

"How did you know I was thinking about that?" Jason asked, as Tommy could only shrug his shoulders. Most of the rangers had developed a sixth sense around each other and were able to feel out the others emotions without saying a word. Jason and Tommy, however, seemed to be able to know what the other was thinking much more often than they wanted to admit and sometimes that was not a good thing.

"Just a guess, Jason," Tommy said, as he let his mind wander to the plans he had made for their honeymoon. This was the one thing he had made sure would be a surprise for Kim and she had let him do that, thank goodness. If she hadn't, he would have fought with her until he got his way on this one, but she didn't resist when he told her he would like to plan the honeymoon. It was just one less thing she would have to worry about.

"Now what do you have up your sleeve?" Jason asked, as Tommy was smirking at what he was thinking about.

"Just thinking about what I have planned for the honeymoon," Tommy said, as Kim's car pulled into a tiny parking lot. "She's going to be surprised."

"How surprised?" Jason asked, knowing some of Kim's tendencies when she was shocked.

"She shouldn't faint, Jason," Tommy said, as he got out of his jeep and headed towards the entrance of the small restaurant. He could not see a name anywhere, but was sure that would not matter once he got inside. He just wanted something to eat. "Hey, don't mention anything to her, I want it to be a complete surprise."

"I'm sure it will be," Jason said, as the girls' filed in, in front of them and seated themselves in the back room.

"Hey, Dr. Oliver," Cassidy said, as she brought out the menus and passed them to the occupants of the table. Tommy did everything he could do to try to not physically cringe at the sight of her, so he somehow drew in a deep breath and smiled at the girl. Jason and Trini tried not to laugh at Tommy's reaction, but Kim just gave his hand a squeeze, which caused him to look over at her. They all knew who this girl was and could only hope that she had become less of a problem, as she had gotten older, although from Tommy's reaction, she seemed to be the same as she was a couple of years before. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Two waters," Tommy said, knowing that Kim would drink that, no matter how long of a day it had been for her and that she didn't really want to speak to the girl, as she seemed to be pouring on the charm, for some reason.

"Sweet tea," Jason said, as Trini looked at him, as if he might have lost his mind. She had never drunk the beverage before, but from what she had heard, she was going to stick to water.

"And for you miss?" Cassidy asked, as Trini had gotten lost in her small daydream.

"Water," Trini said, as Jason settled an arm around her shoulder and felt her rest her head on his shoulder.

"What do you suggest?" Tommy asked, as he looked at the menu and saw that only a few things looked familiar to him, while Jason and Kim seemed to know what most of it was.

"The steak sounds good," Jason said, as he looked at the menu. If Tommy was going for something that would fill him, a good dose of what seemed to be Southern cooking, would do that for him. He had only had a few meals like this before, when he went down to Miami to visit Kim while she was still training, and he would be happy to have another one now. Especially knowing the amount of stress that they had all been under lately, this was definitely a welcome meal for them, although Tommy did not know what anything was.

"That's on here?" Tommy said, looking at the menu and seeing Kim cover her mouth to keep from openly laughing at him. He had not seemed to see the heading 'steaks' and Kim went to fish in her purse for Tommy's extra pair of glasses, as he had left his other pair at home this morning, in his rush to get to the dojo on time.

"Here," Kim said, handing him the small pair of glasses, as he could only mock glare at her. He had to admit that his eyesight was not what it used to be, but having her pull out his extra pair of glasses for him, didn't help his self image any. "Can you see it now?"

"Yes, ma'am. I sure can," Tommy said, as he picked out what he wanted and watched Cassidy head back towards their table, with drinks in tow.

"Now, can I take your order?" Cassidy asked, after she set down the last drink. She looked at Tommy first and he took that as her cue that he should begin.

"I'll take the rib-eye, medium well, with a baked potato and green salad with ranch," Tommy said, and then handed the menu to Cassidy.

"And for you, Mrs. Oliver?" Cassidy said, as Kim looked up at the girl and shook her head. Oh well, she might as well get used to being called Mrs. Oliver, although it was a little bit early for that one.

"I'd like the grilled chicken salad with ranch," Kim said and then Trini and Jason ordered their meals. Trini got the same thing that Kim did and Jason, the same as Tommy. It was just weird how it worked out that way too many times.

"So, we know that the wedding is on the fifteenth, but where are you going on your honeymoon?" Trini asked, as she had been trying to pry it out of Kim all morning, but she said that it was a surprise.

"That's a surprise," Tommy said, as Trini looked back and forth between Tommy and Kim, "for her more than me. It's my little gift to all of this."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Trini said, as Tommy gave her a warm smile and then their food came. Once the food had been placed on the table, their conversations stopped. Tommy and Jason were starved from the class this morning and Kim and Trini knew better than to try to disturb their eating lunch, as it would not be pretty if they did. They soon wrapped up there and headed to the jewelry store.

_Sipper's Jewelry Store _

"Hello, Mr. Oliver. It's been awhile since you've been in here," Mrs. Sipper said, as Tommy walked into her store, with his fiancé and some friends in tow this time. The last time he had come in alone and she just thanked God that she had not run him away with her awkward reaction to him wanting to buy an engagement ring, for the sweetheart that he had decided on. Yeah, there were some unhappy teenagers, but most of them got over it, once they met her or at least Tanya had. Meagan happily bounced on a stool behind the counter, wanting to go talk to her teacher, but became shyer as she saw the other people with her. "What can I help you with?"

"Those wedding rings we talked about," Tommy said with a smile, as Trini separated from them and went to look at the rings that were displayed around the store. Why couldn't Jason buy her one of these? She was happy with him, but she did not think that they had the time to waste that the others did. They had been dating for two years and she could tell he had been thinking about marriage, but he had not brought it up to her and she just wished that he would go ahead and get the ball rolling. As she could only hope that it would not take another earth shattering event to get him to realize it this time.

"Hey, Meagan, you having a good weekend?" Kim asked, as the little girl chewed on her fingernails, but nodded her head yes towards her teacher. She looked shyly over at the man standing next to her, as the other one had retreated away. He was not the mean man that had bothered her teacher earlier that week and she was glad about that one. "I bet you're wondering who he is, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Meagan said, as Mrs. Sipper pulled out a few wedding rings, but held them off to the side as she watched her niece converse with Kim.

"He's Mr. Oliver, we're going to get married in a few months. That why we came into your aunt's store," Kim said, as the little girl stared up at Tommy, who was giving her a friendly smile.

"You teach at the dojo, too, don't you?" Meagan asked, as she could vaguely remember him being there during some of her karate lessons.

"Yeah, Rocky and me," Tommy said, as Mrs. Sipper decided to cut in on the conversation as it could last for hours, if Meagan ever got started.

"Meagan, sweetie, let me put these right here and if you want to talk to them some more you can in just a little bit," Mrs. Sipper said, as the little girl moved out of the way and walked over to some of the other cases.

"She's a sweetheart," Kim said, as the little girl went into the back room.

"Yeah, she's a lot like her mother," Mrs. Sipper said, as she tried to push the sad memories from her mind and focused on showing them the rings that she thought they would like the best.

"What are you looking at?" Jason asked, walking up and placing both of his arms around Trini and placing his chin on top of her head. He really didn't want to look at wedding rings with Kim and Tommy. He was sure that the two of them could handle that one on their own and maybe he could get an idea of what Trini would want as an engagement ring, when he finally went and bought one.

"Just some rings, Jason," Trini said and Jason sensed the melancholy mood she was in. He knew that she wanted them to get married soon, but he wasn't going to keep her waiting much longer, if he could help it.

"Are there any here that you like?" Jason asked, as Trini looked up at him questioningly. Well, if he were going to ask, then she would tell him.

"Yeah, that one," Trini said, pointing to a simple, pale yellow diamond, that was mounted on a golden band. He had to admit it was a nice ring and if he was definitely going to keep something like that in mind when he went ring shopping.

"That's a nice one," Mrs. Sipper said, walking over to them, as she had finished helping Kim and Tommy select their rings. They had picked simple, white gold bands. The edges of the rings had a slightly beveled edge, which complimented Kim's engagement ring. From what she had gathered, that was one of the last things they had left to buy and she was more than happy to help them with it. Meagan loved her teacher and she was glad that her niece was finally getting some of the energy that she had before the crash back, which made Kim feel good when she told her about it. "But I take it you're just looking today. Right, Mr. Scott?"

"Yeah, that's it for today," Jason said, as the woman gave him a knowing smile. Tommy must have told her about his plans and he didn't blame him since he was in a jewelry store. Jason was going to need all the help he could get and they all knew that.

"Feel free to come back any time you want," Mrs. Sipper said, as they headed towards the door. The bunch looked to be heading back home, to try to have a relaxing evening, which was something Tommy and Kim seemed to need, after another week from hell.

**AN:** Thanks for reading and I know that this has been a rather long chapter, but it needed to be put in here. I hope that I didn't bore you with all of this and feel free to review! Until next chapter, I hope you enjoyed!


	14. Dr O Goes Black

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**TrueRomantic:** Yep, you are, sorry but that'll be a few chapters away. Yes and no, they'll be in this story some, but they will really come back in the next one. I hope that answers your questions. If not, let me know.

**XRachX:** Do not worry about that one, it has already been planned in, although some other details will be in their own story (hint, hint).

Now, on with the Story!

_Dr O. Goes Black _

The rangers soon settled into the familiar routine of going to school, fighting, practicing for a little while, going home, then falling into the bed for some much needed sleep, before waking up to start the same thing over the very next day. It became more evident as time went on that these teenagers were made to do this job, despite the initial worry they had about their somewhat mediocre fighting abilities. The battles were becoming less and less fatiguing as time went on and it helped that they were now taking classes at the dojo, although it made their schedules even more hectic than they were before they agreed to do this in the first place.

Then one day, it happened. The worst thing that they could ever imagine, happening to them as a team, happened. They were in a battle and Dr. O was helping them, as much as he could without having any powers to protect him and he had managed to destroy quite a few tryadrones, which left them to fight the monster, as usual. Zeltrax showed up and captured him, before he even had the chance to try to attempt a counter attack against the cyborg. Conner desperately tried to grab him, but they disappeared back through the invisaportal before he could get anywhere close to him, even with the super speed that he had been given. When they got back to the command center, they were all devastated, but the one person that would take it the hardest still did not know what had happened to Dr. O and they had the responsibility of telling her the whole story of how they had let this happen. They dreaded what they were going to have to say, but they knew that they had to tell her the truth, no matter how hard that was going to be.

"Ms. Hart, we have to tell you something," Conner said, as Kim walked into the unusually quiet command center. "Something happened to Dr. O."

It had been a long day at the dojo and she was hoping to find something in the oven when she got home, although Tommy's cooking weren't the best in the country, by any means. She hadn't found anything, so she headed down to the command center, hoping to see Tommy talking with the rangers, after the battle they had, had in town today. She had heard about it over the radio in the dojo and knew that everything had gone well, although it had been reported that one civilian was involved and was possibly in the hospital, which she hoped wasn't Tommy.

The monster was defeated, that was all that really mattered, although some civilians had been scared out of their wits by Mesogogg's latest attack, which was to be expected. When she walked into the command center, she noticed the rangers were still in uniform, but had removed their helmets and Ethan was busily typing away at the computer, obviously searching for something. There was no easy way to tell her this, but she figured it out before they could say anything, just by the expressions on their faces. They had him. The bloody monsters had taken him, again and from what she could tell, they had no clue where he was.

"No," Kim said, shaking her head and quickly backing away from the young rangers that were still inexperienced in this particular area of ranger problems. They might have learned a lot about battling, but they knew nothing about other rangers being captured and what it did to them, especially when Kim and Tommy where in something together and were then ripped apart by one of these monsters. This just couldn't be happening again, especially after that damned island blowing up and nearly killing him, only this summer. They couldn't have captured him again. He wasn't even a bloody ranger this time, why would they want to capture him? He couldn't give them a dino gem or anything like that. There was nothing he could do to hurt them this time, what would they want from him this time? She wasn't going to be allowed to go after him, although she sure as hell wanted to give Mesogogg a piece of her mind right now, but she knew that Hayley was not very likely to let her out of her sight, in the condition that she was in. "No, they couldn't have. It has to be a mistake. He's just resting from having his ass handed to him on a platter."

"We'll get him back, Kim. Don't worry," Kira said, walking over to try to comfort her, but found herself being pushed away, by the frightened, former ranger.

She didn't mean to come across as harsh and cold, but she couldn't take the young ranger trying to comfort her when they didn't know how truly hard it might be to find Tommy, while he was still uninjured, as they did not know much about Mesogogg's whereabouts. Kim, now, wanted to get back to the dojo and work out with one of Rocky's classes, right away, maybe that would help distract her some more. She did not need to think about this or she would go crazy. She had to get out of this command center; it reminded her too much of him and that was some thing she didn't need. Anything that could be linked back to him, she had to get away from, to keep her sanity intact for a little while, at least.

"I know you'll try, but there are no guarantees that you'll find him," Kim said, scrambling up the stairs and out into the open-air kitchen, trying desperately to recollect herself. Her eyes fell on the refrigerator, but before she could raid its contents, Billy came out of nowhere and grabbed her wrist, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. Hayley had called him as soon as the worst had been confirmed from the rangers. Tommy had indeed been taken by one of Mesogogg's goons and was now being held hostage, but only goodness knew exactly where he was right now. Billy was one of the few people who would be able to locate Tommy, if it was even possible to do that now, as the invisaportal had long since diminished. He had called his office and asked for an undetermined amount of leave days, but they had been receptive and let him go immediately. He had never missed a day of work before, so something serious must be going on, although he had, had to be very vague with the details. If it came down to it, he was going to find a story to tell them and hopefully one of the others would be willing to play hurt. "Billy."

"I'll find him, Pinkie. I promise I will," Billy said, making her look him in the eyes, only to see that she was truly scared for Tommy this time. "Now, I gotta go to work on finding him. Do you want some company?"

It was not the first time that he had promised to do something like this and he had come through every time before. As he knew that, sadly, this was not the first time Tommy had ever been taken away from them. He just hoped that he would be able to do it this time. None of the rangers could stand them being apart for very long and he knew that this new team might not be ready to endure this. As it had been a few months into it before Tommy came and even more months before they were first separated from each other. That was hell on them as a team back then and Billy was positive it would have the same affect on the new team now, although they had no clue what was to come over the next few days.

"No, I'll be fine by myself. I need to clear my head," Kim said, picking up the car keys that she had discarded only minutes before on the kitchen table. She had to get out of this house or she was likely to break down much sooner. She couldn't be around anything of his or it would only make it worse. She knew Billy knew that, as they had, basically, had to rid the command center of anything that could remind her of him all those years before when this had happened. Well, except for one of his shirts, which she had been wearing when he had disappeared, the first time. They got tired of her wearing it, but it did not leave her body until he was safely standing in the command center again, a full week later, although he had lucky remained unharmed that time. "I'm going to the dojo, find him Billy. Please find him."

"I'll try Kim," Billy said, giving her another hug, before turning to lift the hidden entrance to the command center from its place in the kitchen floor.

He then headed downstairs, to start the massive search for the lost ranger. Tommy always had the worst luck with things like this and everyone knew it, except the new rangers and they were soon to find out about it. As they were now experiencing what it was like for one of their own to be taken away from them, by the evildoers. It seemed, with each generation of Power Rangers that he had been involved with, he was captured at least once, if not more than that. As the evil geniuses seemed to realize what an asset he truly was, even if he was just sitting in the command center, giving out orders.

It was just his horrible luck for things like this to happen, but he had always happily accepted the challenge and got out alive, somehow. Only this time, the challenge might be too much, even for Tommy, the greatest ranger of all, to handle. He had no powers and his residual powers had been destroyed when he escaped from the damned island. Plus he was dealing with an evil that they did not know the full strength of, yet, although he definitely had the best idea of what some of the worst treatment could be. That, however, did not help comfort any of them, as they knew that there was no plane that he could use to simply fly away from the place this time. He was going to have to fall back on the skills that had managed to get him out so many times before.

"Is she going to be alright?" Kira asked, when Billy walked downstairs, holding a stack of data that could help find Tommy more quickly. He had hated to dig out all of the old scanner codes that they had used for Tommy, in years past, but he knew that any of them could come across now.

He still had some powers residing in him from his last stretch as a ranger and his old residual powers could have returned, as Kim's and his network were not completely destroyed when their powers were drained. Although Billy had done everything to try and do that, but for the two of them, it was safer to risk the exchange than to continue to withdraw powers from inside of them, not that they or anyone for that matter, knew that.

"Once he is back here, she will be, but until then, you might want to try to clear the room of anything that you know belongs to him. She won't take it too well and just be careful about mentioning anything about him," Billy said, as Kira and Conner went to work on doing that, as they knew that she would have to return sometime during the night, even the dojo had to close it's door eventually. Although Rocky might make an exception this one time. Billy then sat down in a chair next to Ethan and looked at the information that he had been able to pull up on his computer screen, which wasn't much, but it was a start. "Have you located the coordinates in which the invisaportal was transferring them to?"

"No, our suits only recorded its appearance, but as it didn't take any of us with it, we really don't have any clue on where they were headed," Ethan said, as he watched Billy and Hayley go into over drive on typing in things for the scanners to look for. They had decided to split the list in half, but each time they punched something in, all it did was come up blank. That just could not be good for them.

"He has to be out there somewhere, but where?" Billy asked the computer screen, as it came up empty, again and he knew that he had reached the end of his list of scanner codes for Tommy, which only left plan B.

He knew that there was not going to be an easy way to do this, as it always seemed that Tommy had to do things the hard way. He was going to have to do a scan of each region of the universe, maybe even having to communicate with other planets rangers, as they might be able to help them, some way, but he hoped that he would be able to do that before it was too late.

_At the Dojo _

Rocky's class was abnormally large for a Thursday night, but Ashley and Charlie had been taking extra classes ever since they had agreed to be their coed team in the tournament, as they were trying to get their skills as honed as possible. He was focusing on them, so much so that he didn't notice Kim come back into the dojo, clearly distressed by something, as she was only clutching her keys in her hands, along with a few sheets of paper, just as an extra excuse. The other student's stopped their work, as the woman made her way over to Rocky, knowing that it was Dr. Oliver's soon to be wife and she did not seem happy about something, although they could not imagine what it would be.

"Rocky, are you busy?" Kim asked, walking over to them and seeing Charlie and Ashley stop working, as they heard her voice and realized something must be terribly wrong. She wondered if he would let her spar, just this once, to see if she still had it in her after a couple of years out of it. Today, wasn't the day to ask, though. She might seriously injure someone if she wasn't careful and she didn't want to do that, not with the mental state that she was in already.

"Kinda. What's going on?" Rocky asked, surprised to see her back at the dojo so soon, but one look at her let him know it was serious. She had had a rough day today, so what made her come back so soon? Whatever it was, couldn't be good, but he didn't want to risk saying something that would lead to the students finding out about something that they were not supposed to know about.

"Can we talk in your office?" Kim asked, as inconspicuously as possible. She had done a good job as to not break down, but was pushing it to last much longer, as she felt her own hands shaking. She knew that she was not thinking straight when she left, but getting out of that house, surely helped. "There's a problem that came up with some of the student enrollment records and Tommy sent me back to ask you about it."

"Okay, we'll talk in the office. Ashley, Charlie, why don't you take off early today? You've been working so hard that you deserve a little break," Rocky said, excusing himself from the class and quickly leading her towards his office. Once they entered his office, he turned his undivided attention back to her. He knew that was not the real reason that Kim was back at the dojo within an hour of leaving, but he patiently waited for her to look at him before he asked his only question that he thought he would have.

She looked around at the belts that Rocky displayed in his office and felt it tearing at her. Tommy had all of these belts sitting in his office too, which was only a few feet away, behind the plaster walls and a door that led from one office to the next. If it hadn't been for him being a Power Ranger, then he wouldn't be gone, to wherever he was, having whatever was happening to him happen, but she hated to blame all of this on their past ranger careers. Those careers were more valuable to all of them, than any other job they would ever dare embark upon and she knew that all too well, but she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if they had never become rangers.

"Rocky," Kim muttered, as she looked him in the eyes and he could clearly see the pain that was shining through, behind the brave wall that she was still trying to hold in place. God, what had happened to make her act like this, it was like Tommy was gone again.

"What's up?" Rocky asked, being careful to not get too close if she had a somewhat violent reaction to all of this that was going on around her. He knew better than to get in the line of fire, but he still felt as if she needed some sort of comfort, otherwise she would not have been here at all.

"They've got Tommy, Rocko. They took him, again," Kim said as she sank down to the floor, her back firmly against the door of his office, blocking anyone else from attempting to come into that room, unless they were determined enough to sling her out of the way.

Rocky knew what that meant, for all of them, the past, and the present rangers. Until they found him, it was going to be pure torture, knowing that one of their own was out there, with no help and no chance of getting any help to him, from what he could gather in her tone. It also meant, that he was going to have to ask Ally to take over the gymnastics program for the next few days, as Kim would not be able to function until Tommy was back with her and even then she might not be back to herself for a little while.

"Are you sure? Could it be a mistake?" Rocky asked, hoping that this was just some sick joke, but one more look at her told him it was true.

There was no worse feeling than knowing that there was the possibility he wouldn't come back this time, that he really would die in the line of duty. All of them had been through it before, but each time, it hit a little harder, as they wondered how many times it would be before he was killed in action or turned evil again, but none of them mentioned that to Kim. They knew it was running through her mind just as much as it was running through theirs, if not more. They did not need to reiterate it at all to her.

"They called Billy in, I think I'm pretty sure that they have him, Rocky. You know that they wouldn't do that unless it was something serious," Kim said, as Rocky went to sit down next to her. He placed his arm around her and felt her slump against his side, trying to find some comfort, but his comfort was not the best remedy for this problem. He knew that Jason, himself, or Trini were the closest seconds to the peace that Tommy could give her, but why did it have to happen again? And why now, they had just gotten over everything that had happened this summer. "If Richard has him, then he is going to try to kill him if he can and I don't want that to happen, Rocky. I don't know if I can live with that sort of guilty."

"Richard's back?" Rocky asked, shocked as to how Tommy had failed to mention any of this to him, but they had barely seen each other over the last few weeks and when they had, there had not been much time to talk about things of that nature. Tommy had been busy renting his tuxedo and doing other things for the wedding. The wedding. Oh boy, what happened if they couldn't get him back in time for the wedding? "Kim, you're not thinking about going after him, are you?"

"You know Billy won't let me do that, although it has crossed my mind already. Tommy would kill him when we got back, and then he would go after Billy for letting me go," Kim said, with a wry smile. She wanted to go after him, but knew that no one would let her do that, no matter how much she begged them to let her do just that. They couldn't risk another ranger's life, until they knew where he was and what they were up against and even then, she probably wouldn't be allowed to go.

That night, Kim went home, to begin covering up the problem with his other job, as they had done so many times before. If they were going to be able to pull this off, Tommy was going to have to be as sick as a dog, for quite awhile and hopefully the principal would buy it or they would find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.

_Mesogogg's Lair _

"Well, Dr. Oliver, it's nice to see you awake again," Zeltrax said, as Tommy jerked out of his peaceful slumber and looked around the foreign room he had been placed in, seeing lights blink every now and then, but noticed that it was still fairly dark.

He had been there for two days already, but he had been unconscious during most of it, which led to him having no clue of the time span that he had been there for, which was a tiny miracle, as he did not know what he was causing on Earth. He tried to sit up, but found himself bound to the table by steel casings. He then tried to move his feet, but they were trapped as well. It seemed that they had thought to cover all of the bases this time, unlike all of the times before, when some idiot had captured him. How was he going to get out of this mess? As he was sure that the rangers were having a hard time finding him, as all of his old scanner codes might not show up here or they did not know the codes, which was an even bigger problem to have to deal with.

"Todd," Tommy managed to croak out, as he suddenly felt the dryness in his throat, as his vocal cords were forced back into use. His throat ached and he could feel some bruises developing on his back and extremities, from some battle he had obviously fought in before he was brought here. But how, exactly, had he gotten here?

He couldn't remember anything besides saying good-bye to Kim this morning and after that, everything went blank in his mind. Oh God, Kim. She must be worried sick about him right now. He had to get out of here and back to her; somehow, although it did not look like it was going to be easy to get out of here. This was one of the many times in the last few months that he had wished that he could morph again, but he couldn't, only this time it, somehow, seemed worse than the other times. He was at the mercy of Zeltrax and he did not like it at all. He knew that meant there were others around and if Richard came in, he could only imagine the torture he would use against him.

"Yeah, that's me," Zeltrax said as he shocked Tommy with stun rays and he jumped off the table, although he was still held down by the straps. He cringed with pain, as he watch Zeltrax smile at what he was doing to him. How could this be the same man that he had worked with, everyday, barely three months ago? No, he knew it wasn't the same man, although he had the same brain in there. He had been changed, in a way that was irreparable, and there was nothing Tommy could do to change what had happened to him now, no matter how hard he tried or wished that things did not have to be this way. "By the way, no one calls me by that name anymore, they call me Zeltrax. I told you that you needed to watch your back the next time I showed up, Oliver. You should have listened to me."

What in the world was he talking about, now? He couldn't remember anything that had happened today and he knew it was not because of his usual forgetfulness, as he was sure he could remember something as important as the battle that had landed him wherever the hell he was now. What had he done today and why couldn't he remember it, at all? If his throat were not killing him, he would have asked, but as it was, he remained silent, choosing to try to keep himself from saying something that would only cause him more pain. His mind trying to pull out some sort of explanation as to why and how he got into the situation he now found himself in, but it was unable to do that this time.

"You might be wondering why I brought you here, Dr. Oliver," Zeltrax said, as Tommy merely nodded his head, which did not hurt him as bad as everything else when he had tried to move it. He knew, then, that he had not received a blow to the head, but that did not help explain anything else that was going on here. Where exactly was 'here', though and did the rangers even know that 'here' existed? Where were they? They had to have been looking for him, but why hadn't they come to help him out of this mess? "Well, you see, you were in a battle two days ago, against all of my tryadrones. You got a little bit sloppy in your technique, Oliver, and I took the advantage that I had and captured you. Your Power Rangers are fine, but now I have you and they are nothing without their so called 'leader'."

"How long are you going to hold me here? You know that they are looking for me and will find me, somehow. It is only a matter of time Zeltrax. You are underestimating what the Power Rangers can do," Tommy croaked out, wishing that he could have a cup of water, to help relieve the pain of his burning throat, but he was not about to ask Zeltrax for a cup.

He was just waiting for Zeltrax to leave him alone, before he really analyzed the situation he now found himself in. There had to be some way to break the seal of the casings, Todd had never been the brightest apple in the bunch and he expected Zeltrax was the same way, although Mesogogg did not know that fact about him, yet.

"Until they come after you, Oliver. My master will be happy to deal with them with you already in tow and at his mercy," Zeltarix said, smiling wickedly down at him.

He, however, didn't think about all of the other rangers that would come out of the woodwork, if it became absolutely necessary and Tommy had no doubt some had already been pulled out. He could only hope that Hayley had thought to call Billy in to help with the search, because Kim would be no help at all in locating him, unless they sent her on the rescue patrol.

She was probably crying right now on the couch in the command center, clutching that old teddy bear he had given her, as Hayley desperately looked for him. He could just imagine the other rangers, sitting around, as the one who was supposed to be second in command sobbed. She had never been any good when he was taken away like this, or so he heard, but the new rangers were now finding out first hand what they had all been through several times before.

But he knew he had hurt her again and he hated to have to deal with that, although she was not there with him, he still had to deal with all of the problems this caused, when he got back home to her. He never let the doubts arise in his mind that he would not, as it would only cause him to begin to worry and that was the last thing he needed. He needed to be able to think clearly and focus, but Zeltrax standing right over him was making it hard for him to be able to do either, at the moment. Why couldn't the thing just leave?

"Oh, Dr. Oliver. This is quite a position you have found yourself in, now isn't it?" Richard asked, as Tommy looked at him with wide-eyed shock written all over his face, as he immediately recognized the voice. Oh God if he died Kim would bring him back, just to kill him again, for being so stupid.

He had to figure this out soon, if only he could concentrate on his old powers, maybe they would help him, maybe they would come back to him, just for a long enough period to get him the hell out of here and back home. That didn't work but Tommy suddenly felt something appear in his fist, it was cold and felt like a stone, but he couldn't really be sure until he saw it, in the dim light of the room. He didn't dare open his fist, until they had left him alone, but what could it be that had come to him now? And would it be able to help him get out of here, in one piece?

After awhile, they left him alone, to go and try to cause some more problems on Earth, as they knew the other rangers were distressed by Dr. Oliver's disappearance and by them not being able to find him, yet. It was only then that he opened his fist and what he saw inside of it awed him. The black dino gem was sitting in his hand, but had not been put in its morphing form. Oh man, maybe if he concentrated enough it would allow him to morph, but it didn't do anything to him or so he thought.

He started fiddling with the buttons that he could reach hoping that he could release himself from the metal bed he was pinned down to. After a few minutes of trying he released himself and quickly moved out of the room, but on the way out, he passed a mirror. Why there were always mirrors in these places, he didn't know, but there was no reflection in it this time. Oh boy, he guessed that gem's power was invisibility, now if he could just find his way out of here. Then he would worry about changing back into his normal form.

He sneaked around the building, looking for any way to get out of there, but he didn't see one that did seem to be guarded by the tryadrones. Well, while he was there, he might as well take advantage of it, as it may be the last time any of them were in there, without Mesogogg knowing where they were located inside of the building. He walked into Mesogogg's main room and saw that he only had three informants, thank goodness. As he listened to them talk, he could tell that Mesogogg was well pleased with their capture of him, although he wouldn't be there much longer if he could help it. He wished, again, that he had his old powers, so he could just teleport out of there, without there even being a trace of his presence. They brushed past him as they exited the room and he followed close behind them, maybe they could lead him out of there and back home. It was then that he saw an invisaportal appear in front of them and he went through it hoping that it would get him back to Earth.

_The Command Center _

"Billy, you had any luck yet?" Hayley asked, looking over his shoulder at the computer, as she brought him a cup of fresh coffee. They had been working for the past two days, trying to locate Tommy, but still had not been able to find him. Kim couldn't function as a normal human being and had been lying on the couch for the past two days, curled up in a ball, while clutching an old teddy bear that no one was really sure about how she had gotten, except Tommy. She had been trying her best to not have a complete breakdown and had managed to do so, so far, although Billy knew she was on the verge of having one if they didn't find him soon.

"Nothing that would be Tommy, I think. It's just frustrating," Billy said, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes out of pure frustration at how this situation was looking worse and worse with each passing second. He had never been this close to letting Kim or any of the other rangers down and he wasn't going to stop until he was completely whooped, which he was close to being, at the moment. Tommy had to be out there somewhere, if he could only hone in on his energy signal, but which one should he look for first?

Hayley had rested her hands on his shoulders and could feel how tense the muscles were, under the navy blue polo shirt he had been wearing for the past two days. She had never seen him like this before and she tried to loosen them, but it was no good, as they immediately re-tightened. Billy was worried, he knew Tommy could not survive much longer out there by himself. They just had to find him soon; there was not another option for them.

"You want me to take over for a little while so you can go get some rest?" Hayley asked, as she had been forced out of her seat after the first day, as Billy had become agitated about the whole situation. She knew that he wanted to find Tommy and any distractions were being thrown out and she happened to be a distraction for Billy.

"No, but this black energy source has been showing up when I do a scan of Lorgan, it might be him," Billy said, as Hayley rested her head on his shoulder and reached down to grab her own glasses.

"Scan the area again," Hayley said, putting on her glasses, as she had, had to get rid of the contacts a few hours before and when he did, nothing showed up. They both knew that he had not imagined it being there, so where had it gone to? "Scan the Earth, I have a hunch."

"Okay," Billy said and the color appeared in a location, determined to be right behind him, in this very command center. No one had walked into the room, to his knowledge, so who was it or more importantly, what was it? "Hayley, has anyone come in here?"

"No, not that I…" Hayley said, as she looked around the command center and then at Kim, who was asleep on the couch. Her head looked to be floating a few inches above the couch's surface and her hair was being brushed by an invisible hand. What was going on here? "Billy...uh Billy"

"What?" Billy asked, as she had been slapping him on the back of the head. When he turned around, he was glad that he had nothing in his hands. Otherwise, he would have dropped it, from pure shock at what he was seeing in front of him. He had never seen something like this before. "Dear Lord."

"Yeah, I know. We have a problem, Billy," Tommy said, as the two of them looked very pale and shocked, Hayley so much so that she sat down in Billy's lap and stared at where the voice had emanated from, hoping he would show himself. He unclenched one of his fists and revealed the black dino gem, in his invisible hand, to Hayley and Billy. Who, then, looked at each other before looking back at the gem, this was not going to be good. As much as he regretted to say it, he knew he had to tell them what he needed. "I need you to make me a morpher, Hayley. It looks like I'm a ranger again."

"Hmm, Tommy," Kim murmured, as she buried her head into his, invisible, chest. She then jolted off of the couch and looked over at where she had been propping her head a few moments before. She knew that she missed him, but this was crazy, even for her. Although, Billy certainly thought she had been nearing this point earlier tonight, but he really seemed like he was there. Then she noticed a black gem floating in mid-air and her eyes widened in shock, as she tried to figure out what was holding it up. What was going on here and had they been able to find Tommy? "Billy, what's going on here?"

"I can explain, I think," Tommy said, as Kim eyes widened, as she stared directly at his face, but she could not see him. She heard his voice, clearly, but where was he? If he was playing a trick on her, then this was just cruel, especially for him. He had been captured for two days and then he thought this would be a funny way to come home? Oh he was going to pay, once she located him. Tommy watched as she looked everywhere for him, but she could not see him at all. He had prayed it would have worn off by now, but that did not seem to be the case, at all. "You can't see me, can you?"

"No, we can't," Billy said, as he took the gem from Tommy's, invisible, palm and walked over to the station to run an analysis on the gem, maybe it would help explain the situation, somehow. More importantly, maybe it would explain to them how to change Tommy back to normal, which was the only thing that they were really worried about right now. "Did the gem do this to you?"

"That's what I'm guessing. It just showed up in my hand when I was in Mesogogg's lair and when I was able to release myself, I was invisible," Tommy said, standing up and walking over to the computer to enter more data that he had found out while on his, inadvertent, spy mission. Kim looked over as the chair swiveled around and the sound of typing began. Was he really back or was she just dreaming, like she had so many times in the past two days? "Maybe morphing and powering down will take this away."

"Can someone explain this to me?" Kim asked, as she walked over to sit in what she thought was an empty chair, but she wound up in Tommy's lap. She tried to jump back up, but he held her down, determined not to let her go.

She wasn't going to leave him, if he could help it. The worry that he had seen when she had woke up startled him, although it was not the first time he had seen her like this, but it had been quite awhile since she had been this bad when he was captured. Although he could understand how the other events that had already occurred this year helped in making her more nervous than she had ever been before. He just couldn't stand the sight and he wanted to make it go away more than anything else.

"I will, once I get to where you can see me again. I think it will be easier that way," Tommy said, watching her curl up in his lap, as an attempt to fight off more tears that had suddenly formed. She had thought that she had cried herself out over the last two horrendous days of waiting, but now that he was back, she felt like crying again. Only they were tears of joy this time, she honestly did not care that he was invisible, not right now at least. He was home and he was safe. "Don't. Not until you know the truth Kim."

"Hayley, take Kim upstairs to get some rest," Billy said, as Hayley nodded and then he watched the two of them go up the stairs. Neither one of them needed to be downstairs if this went wrong, as it was likely to do. "You sure you want to try this?"

"Yeah, thanks for getting rid of them. I don't want either of them to go crazy if something goes wrong," Tommy said, as he quickly morphed and then powered down. It didn't work and now they were going to have to find a more invasive procedure to return him back to his normal form, which did scare him, some. "What are we gonna do?"

"Well, let's get the other rangers together, so that they'll be able to meet the newest addition to their team. Then we'll worry about changing you back," Billy said, as Tommy groaned about what this would mean for him, so much for giving this up, ever. That just never seemed as if it was going to happen, to him at least.

"I bet they'll be thrilled to hear about this," Tommy said, spinning the chair around while Billy sent out a signal to the rangers. "She's not been taking this well, has she?"

"Tommy, you were gone for two days and now you're invisible. The two of you are supposed to be getting married in about two months, if I were her, I'd be worried to. She doesn't want you to suit up again Tommy and you know it," Billy said, as he heard Tommy head back up the stairs, knowing exactly where he was headed. He had to talk to her before she began to sob about all of this. He would be fine and him being a ranger again would not change anything between them, but could he convince her of that?

"Kim," Tommy said walking into their bedroom and seeing Kim sitting on the edge of their bed, one of her fingers, absentmindedly, playing with the engagement ring he had bought her.

She knew what all of this meant, he would be going back out there, to fight the fight that they had begun, together, so many years ago. The dino gem had also adversely affected Tommy and she didn't know when or if she would ever see him again. She needed to see him again, just to know he was all right, to be able to know who she was touching and holding, whenever he came near to her. Billy and Hayley would work on a remedy, but she hated to keep Billy away from his job any longer than she already had, although he probably wouldn't mind the extra time with Hayley, as they rarely spent anytime together, but this surely wasn't their idea of a fun way to spend it together.

"Tommy, is it really you?" Kim asked, looking over to where the voice had emanated from, hoping to see its source. Whatever had been the easy solution, had obviously not worked for him this time, but when did it ever work for Tommy? So that meant the next thing they tried would be much more invasive and could possibly land him in the hospital, which was something she did not want to face right now. They had so many lies to make if he had to go to the hospital, namely what caused him to get in whatever condition that he was in.

"Yeah, it's me. Look I'm sorry all of this happened and I wish that I could tell you that it won't happen again, but there's a possibility it might," Tommy said sitting down next to her and brushing his hand across her face. She could feel him next to her, but with everything inside of her; she could not bring herself to believe he was really there, not until she could see who was wrapping their arms around her, hugging away the worries and tears that had been building up for the past two days.

"I know, I've known that ever since I met you and we've all been through it, at least once, while we've been rangers," Kim said, blindly feeling around to find his face, in the dim light of the room. Once she located it, she tried to find his lips, but he started shaking his head no. He knew that she needed his comfort and reassurance and his kiss would do that, but he wasn't going to do that to her, knowing that it might get much worse soon. She had always been strong, maybe not as strong as she wanted to be, but she could hold her own and he needed her to do that right now or he would be the one breaking down. He couldn't stand to see the hurt his disappearance had caused and as much as he wanted to kiss her, he knew that in a few hours, he might be in the hospital. He didn't want to leave her with a memory of him being invisible as strong as a kiss, not when he could not change back, at will, as of yet. "Are you alright?"

"Other than being invisible. Yeah, I'm good," Tommy said, with a laugh as he got up to go back down to the command center.

He needed to be morphed when the others came in or they would be shocked when someone that wasn't there showed up in front of them, although they would probably be more than happy that he was ranger. He had been surprised that Kim didn't have an adverse reaction of her own to this, but she seemed to be avoiding comprehending it all, as she was just happy to have him back, no matter what state he was in when he came back to her.

"Wait," Kim said, standing to follow him, but not being exactly sure were he was, she tried to feel out where he was, which was a fairly funny sight to behold. Tommy stifled back a laugh, as he reached for her hand and carefully took it in his own as he guided her back down to the command center, which he was sure she was quite sick of right now. He couldn't help but feel that a lot more had happened while he was gone than he had been told, but he wasn't going to press that subject now.

He did not need to know that Billy had carried her up to their bedroom the first night he had been gone and that she had called into work sick, knowing she did not have any patience or concentration that day. He did not need to know that she had stayed curled up on that couch crying and clinging to an old teddy bear he had given her, for the remainder of the time he had been gone. He did not need to know that when Hayley tried to comfort her, that she blamed it all on herself, for not being out there to protect him. No he didn't need to know everything that had happened while he was gone, as it would only make him feel worse about the situation and he was already feeling pretty bad about it right now.

"Are you alone?" Hayley asked, looking at Kim with a wry smile and seeing her hands were still shaking, with worry.

Billy and she had been brainstorming for the last few minutes and determined there was only one way to switch the powers back to where he could be seen again. That meant that they would have to use his dino gem against him, but they would be putting him at risk for injuries so severe that it might require hospitalization, which was never a good thing to hear. Neither one wanted to do this, but they knew there were no other choices in the matter. Tommy could not stay invisible forever and they both knew that. He, ultimately, would have to make the choice in how he was going to go around changing himself back, though, even if Kim did not approve of it.

"No," Kim said, reluctantly, letting go of Tommy's hand. He then headed over to get his morpher from Billy, who had just finished working on it. He knew that he could be seen while morphed, but that did not comfort him at all.

He needed to be back at work on Monday, as to not draw any more suspicion to himself, so that only left tomorrow for him to get back to himself, as it was already late Saturday evening and he doubted Billy and Hayley had already been able to come up with something. If Mesogogg had any sense, he would soon be coming after him, just to see what he was really up against, as the black ranger would not be known as Tommy Oliver to him, until after that first battle. Then, he knew, there would be no hiding it, as anyone could tell his fighting style, if they watched him long enough, and Zeltrax had, for some reason.

"Tommy, I think we have a solution to your being invisible, but it's dangerous," Billy said, as he watched Kim sink down onto the bottom step, unable to walk any further without assistance, as she knew she was not going to like whatever was said. Why was Billy even offering him this, knowing he would take it, even if it was likely to kill him? She could only hope they would wait until she was out of the room before they tried it, if they didn't. Then they might as well set up a gurney for her as well.

"Just tell me when," Tommy said and then morphed. Kim watched as the black suit appeared and she started shaking at how real it all was, again. Some of the things that she had seen this man do in so many other colors and now it had changed again? It just didn't seem right for him to be in black, instead of white or even green, although those had been put to rest, for the first time, quite a few years ago. "Are they on their way?"

"No, we're here, Dr. O," Conner said, looking around the command center and spotting the black ranger, but no Dr. O. Where was he? They had heard his voice, but they were unable to see him, anywhere. They were so happy when they heard that he was back, that they dropped everything they had been doing, to rush down to the command center, now he didn't seem to be anywhere in sight, which was odd. "Who's the new guy?"

"Conner, it's me," Tommy said, as Conner stared at him, along with the other two rangers, as they looked over at Kim to make sure that what they were hearing was true and she surely did not seem happy right now. There was just no way Dr. O had suited up again, he was retired and once a ranger went into retirement they stayed, didn't they? They all waited for him to power down and reveal it was a joke, but he didn't seem willing to do that at all. "But there's a slight problem, I'm invisible."

"You're what?" Kira asked, watching the black ranger power down and then he could no longer be seen, by any of them. This was too creepy for words as they watched a chair start moving, with no known source to power it.

"Invisible," Tommy supplied, again, as they continued to look right through him, at the computer screens. Okay, Billy and Hayley had to fix this soon; he absolutely couldn't stand it anymore. It was one thing when it was Kim or Billy, but the teenagers, were a completely different thing, as they were not likely to quit staring in that direction for a very long time. "But hopefully we can fix that soon."

"If you want to go ahead and try," Billy said, as Kim abruptly stood up and exited the command center, without saying a word.

While Conner, Ethan, and Kira looked on with confusion, at her sudden actions and then over at Billy, hoping he would have some sort of explanation for it all. Billy could tell Tommy was hurt by her leaving, but he understood why she couldn't be there. This was one thing that she didn't approve of or want to see no matter how many times they guaranteed he would be fine, in the end they wouldn't know that until it was over and she knew that all too well.

"What's with her?" Conner asked, figuring that Kim wouldn't want to let the invisible Tommy out of her sights after what had happened in the park a few days ago and he was correct, except for the fact that she did not do well with watching things like this. Not that they knew that, as this was their first ever problem that stemmed from something like this.

"She knows the risks of all of this and doesn't want to watch," Billy said, as he hooked censors to what seemed to be thin air, but it was obviously, where Tommy was standing. He couldn't help but think back to when he had drained their residual powers and knew, in all likelihood, she wouldn't have stayed in the command center if he didn't have to drain them from her as well. That night, the two of them had grown closer and it had helped them go back to their old selves, although the pain they experienced that night could be rivaled by childbirth, from how they later described it. "You alright with this?"

"Let's just get it over with," Tommy said, as Billy began what he hoped would cure Tommy of this malady. It all went fine, for awhile, and then Tommy started seizing, from some unknown cause. They immediately removed the censors, but it didn't stop, at first. Once it ceased they could see him but he was unconscious and very pale, which honestly did worry Billy and Hayley.

"Is he alright?" Kira asked, trying to sound calm, but her voice came out shrill and worried, as their teacher and fellow ranger lay motionless on the floor.

Billy and Hayley exchanged a glance, before moving him over to the gurney that they had set out, just in case something like this happened. They couldn't tell them the truth, but they knew there was a very real chance that he might never be 'alright' again. The only person that had a shot at waking him up was Kim and she didn't look to be heading back downstairs any time soon, not unless they went and got her.

"We'll see. Does someone want to get Kim?" Hayley asked, taking a deep breath, she was going to hate them for what they had done to make Tommy to where they could see him again. Ethan then disappeared up the stairs, in search of Ms. Hart. In a few minutes, he returned with Kim in tow. She didn't even have to look at him to know what had happened, she already knew, from seeing Billy's expression as she walked into the command center. Billy and Hayley then shooed the other rangers out of the house, telling them they would call when he woke up. They knew that Kim needed to be with him by herself, no matter what anyone else thought.

"Billy, tell me the truth. Do you think he needs to go to the hospital?" Kim asked, placing a hand over his and hoping, desperately, he would grip it, but he didn't. She closed her eyes and thought for what seemed like the millionth time that this couldn't be happening again, it was not fair for someone to go through this so many times in their lifetime, but he had.

"I don't think so. Not now, at least. Give him some time to wake up on his own," Billy said, bringing over a chair, but she refused to sit down in it for the time being. She did not feel as if she deserved to be comfortable, in even the slightest sense of the word. She should have tried to stop him from doing this; even if he wouldn't listen to her, at least then she would not feel the resounding guilt that she felt now.

"Why does he always have to be the brave one?" Kim asked, looking over at Billy and feeling him put a comforting arm around her, as she struggled not to cry. Billy knew exactly what she was talking about, but it was not something that needed to be brought up right now, as they both knew how many times Tommy had risked his life, to try to keep the other rangers safe. Although Billy could think of countless times when she had been in the same position, Tommy was in now and Tommy was the one who was concerned about whether or not she would be all right, but in the end both of them had always pulled through. It just seemed that this happened too many times for the pair and not enough for the rest of the rangers. "He has always been brave enough for the two of us, but look where it gets him. He usually winds up on a gurney, unable to tell us that he is going to be fine. I just don't know how much more I can take, I love him too much."

"He'll come around, Kim. He always does," Billy said, motioning for Hayley to follow him out of the command center. Kim needed to be alone with Tommy that much was obvious from her last statement that she had made to them and if there was anything else said they were likely to become embarrassed by hearing it. He knew that she was no longer censoring her emotions. She never did when something like this happened.

"Damn it, Tommy. You can't do this to me. I know that I treated you wrong all those years ago, but we're over that now. I need you Tommy Oliver. I need you to wake up and be back in my life. I don't want to know that everything 'almost' happened, I want it to happen. We're supposed to get married in two months and I need you here for that. I can't live without you, Handsome. Please, don't do this to me," Kim said, taking a seat in the chair Billy had placed behind her. She then rested her head on Tommy's stomach and let herself cry all the tears she had, unknowingly, held in over the last two days. If he didn't make it through, she didn't know what she would do. The time seemed to pass slowly, but she soon found herself falling asleep, still clutching his hand with one of her own and a piece of his shirt with the other.

AN: I know that this is a rather lengthy chapter, but I felt that I needed to get a lot of this out in one chapter, so I hope that it is not too bad on all of you. Thanks for reading and feel free to review!


	15. Wake Up, Kim, Wake Up

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**XRachX:** Of course not, just give it a chapter or so. We all know now they are. I'll email you the details, if you don't already have it by the time this chapter is posted.

**jedi4jesus19:** I will, do not worry, although this past week has been very hectic, so I hope this chapter isn't too bad.

**Daisyz:** Yeah, I know and here's the update.

Now, on with the Story!

_Wake Up, Kim, Wake Up _

Kim slept fitfully that night, waking up every so often, to look up at Tommy's pale face and see that he was still unconscious, although he seemed to be in a very peaceful sleep, as he was not thrashing about like she knew she had been all night. She couldn't help but dream about what could have happened, if they had just left him as he was when he had first returned. Sure, him being invisible would be an annoying inconvenience, but it was better than being able to see him and not being sure if he would live through this. He was going to feel bad enough when he woke up and she was only hoping he would do that, at this point. He had never stayed unconscious this long, which worried her even more. In the times past, he had usually woken up in a few minutes with a smile and a shake of his head, but he had been out for hours this time.

Tommy woke up, too see the lights were very dim, wherever he was lying and for a few seconds he thought he was still in Mesogogg's lair. Then, he recognized where he was and looked around to see the command center was empty, except for Kim and himself, but he couldn't remember Kim coming back downstairs the night before.

He looked down at her and saw that she had fallen asleep, still clutching his hand and had obviously been crying, as a piece of his tattered shirt was clutched in the other. She probably had told Billy and Hayley to leave her alone, although it could have just been that Billy didn't like seeing her like this and he didn't blame him at all on that one. Kim was never the best person to be around when she was as upset as he knew she had been last night. He wondered just how long it had taken her to cry herself to sleep last night, because he knew that she did not go to sleep like she normally would, with himlying, unconscious, right in front of her.

With the hand that was not numb, he began stroking the back of her head, while he thought about all of this. He knew that he had a lot of explaining to do, but he also knew that she probably would just be happy that he was awake, but there were other things that pressed on his mind.

Like what had she done when Billy told her what happened to him? Did she even know what had really happened to him? No, Billy probably didn't have to tell her, she could guess it on her own, which saved her the agony of all of the gory details. She had seen Billy's facial expression like that enough to know what it meant, but could she forgive him for everything he had caused this time?

"Beautiful, wake up. Come on sweetie, get up," Tommy whispered, shaking her shoulder and watching her slowly lift her head off his stomach, blinking away the sleep from her eyes.

He loved to wake her up like this, because usually she would be so happy to see him that she forgot everything else she was thinking about and all the things she wanted to yell at him. Today, everything was different though, instead of looking down at him, as his hand was still resting on her shoulder; she sat up and seemed to be looking for Billy, like she didn't expect him to wake up at all this time. He must have been out for quite awhile if she did not even have faith in him waking up on his own anymore.

"Billy, what's going on?" Kim muttered, looking around the room to see where Billy stood, but didn't find him anywhere in the dimly lit command center. She then looked down at Tommy and saw that his other hand was covering the one that had a firm grip on his tattered, black polo shirt. When she looked up at his face, he half expected her to faint from the surprise of seeing him gazing at her. Instead, her lower lip started to tremble, as she tried to not break down in happy tears. She, slowly, undid her hand from his shirt and reached up to cup his cheek with her gentle touch. It was so good to have him back, but what a price to pay to get him back. "Tommy."

"I told you I'd be fine, Kim," Tommy whispered, as she threw the upper half of her body on top of his and pinned him to the table for a few moments.

The angry words that he had expected were being replaced by sobs that she was fighting to hold in. She was so happy that he was even alive to think about how mad she could be right now. None of the other things that had happened mattered now, she had her Handsome back and that was all that was important to her.

"Handsome," Kim muttered, as she felt him wrap his arms around her and pressed her head against his neck, letting all of the tears roll down his skin as well, with one strong hand on the back of her head. He really was back and maybe now they could manage to finish with all of the wedding preparations. Sure, he was a ranger again, but the rangers could survive without him for a few days. They had been up until now; it shouldn't change things too much, unless Mesogogg figured out he was much more of an asset than he knew him to already be.

"Everything is going to be alright. I promise you that," Tommy whispered, as Hayley and Billy entered the command center, prepared to see almost anything in front of them.

Billy watched as Tommy tried to comfort Kim, but he knew it was going to take much more than a few simple words this time around. She had been much more upset last night than he had seen her in years. Tommy, of course, had been like this before but there was something more there, something he didn't want to see coming from Kim: fear, for him and his life. A fear that Richard had instilled in her, once he let his presence on Mesogogg's team be known to the two of them.

"Is it?" Hayley asked, as Kim looked up to see that she had grabbed a chair of her own and had seated herself in front of Billy, who was now resting his hands on her shoulders.

Now, there were more things in danger than the rangers, but she didn't want to bring that up to them, yet. She knew that the last time Tommy had been on a ranger team she wasn't on, bad things happened to them and their relationship, but there wasn'ta real need to bring that up right away.

"We'll talk about everything later, Hayley. Right now I just want to be happy that I am back home and awake," Tommy said, finally sitting up, although Kim was still clinging to him.

The room spun for a moment and he, himself, had to cling to Kim for a second before his equilibrium balanced itself. He could feel the difference in having powers back inside of him, but even they did not make him feel well this time. The only one that could do that was now propped against him and he had the feeling that he would have to help her before she could even attempt to help him. It was the absolute least he could do, after putting her through all of this, again.

"Tommy, are you really back as a ranger?" Kim asked, although she had seen him morph, she still had to hear it come from him.

If he was really going back into action, then she wanted in on it as well, although there were no other dino gems available, that she knew of at the moment. If another one came in, she wanted it to have its chance at bonding with her and if it didn't, then at least she tried her best. She, however, had gotten the feeling that he would not want her to become a ranger, but his mind might change if she got a hold of a gem that would bond to her.

"Yeah, I'm back in. I'm suiting up again, Kim," Tommy said, as she released him for the first time and took a small step back, to look at him carefully. He expected worse than this last night, but now she looked like she had an internal conflict and he could only wonder which side would win. Did she really want to sit on the sidelines, like she had before or was she going to ask to do what he had been doing before he got these powers, be out there in the field? He knew, deep down, that she wanted to be out there with him, no matter what he said to her to try to convince her otherwise.

"Kim, we promised to tell the others when he woke up," Billy said, resting a hand on her shoulder, trying to get her attention to focus on him for about two seconds. Kim, however, continued to stare at Tommy, trying to believe all of it. Tommy could tell that Billy was asking permission to call the others in to see that he was really alright, but Kim was not going to answer that one, her focus was only on him and in all likelihood, she had not even heard the question that he had posed for her.

"Tell them, but ask them to not come yet. We've got some things to attend to before they come out here," Tommy said, standing and guiding Kim out of the command center and upstairs. They both needed some rest, but he wondered how long it would be before they were able to get some of that. She was sure to have many questions for him, although all he wanted to do was go to bed, with her in his arms, safe and sound. These last two days had been hard on him and he just wanted to get back to a normal, Power Ranger, life.

"Okay, Tommy," Billy said, as Hayley and he looked at each other.

Billy didn't really want to stay downstairs and talk to the rangers when they asked the inevitable questions, but he knew it would be better than them worrying for the rest of the weekend. Now, if only Kim and Tommy would talk out all of this, before they could no longer be kept away. If they were to have a fight over this, then the whole team would suffer and he didn't know if this new team would be ready for that, as they were still very young, in their existence as a whole.

"You know that I want back in Tommy," Kim said, as he solemnly shook his head, in a complete understanding of how she felt, as she was suddenly on the outside, looking in. It was one things when he was just the mentor, but now it had changed.

It was to be expected for her to be like this, as she always wanted to be out there with him, to cover his back and he couldn't blame her. He, often times, got into situations that would not turn out good for him, but she had, had his back during those times and wanted to do that now. It just felt natural for her to be out there helping him, at all times.

"Yeah, but there's no power source for you, right now and I can't just let you go out there unprotected," Tommy said, as he sat down at the kitchen table, trying not to show his exhaustion. He watched as she pulled out some flour and buttermilk. At least she wasn't mad enough to leave him to his own cooking that was a plus, as he would not be eating anything right now and his stomach had just let everyone know exactly how hungry he was.

"Tommy, how are we going to do this?" Kim asked, as her brain shifted to thoughts of a ruined wedding, one in which he never showed up at because of a monster attack on Reefside and she knew how real of a chance there was for that to happen. It had been one thing when their dates were ruined, as they were in it together, but their wedding could not be, she would not accept that and she had the feeling that he had already thought about that one. "We've already sent out the invitations, bought everything and now this comes up again. How are we going to do this?"

"I'm not going out that day. It's as simple as that," Tommy said, as she looked over at him from mixing up a batch of biscuits. Did he really mean what he was saying or was he just trying to smooth things over, for a little while?

"Are you serious?" Kim asked, turning back around and pouring a cup of flour into the buttermilk, before mixing the batter some more. He had never stated that he would not go to a battle before and she couldn't imagine he would do this now, it had always meant so much to him.

"We've held off long enough, I don't want to wait any longer. I don't think that either of us can do that," Tommy said, as a smile spread across her face. He really meant it, for once in his life, he was going to put his Power Ranger duties second, even if it was only for a little while.

"Thank you, Tommy," Kim said, pulling an apron over her head and tying it carefully around her waist. She was known to spill things all over her clothing while cooking and she did not want to do that today, she just wasn't in the mood for any added laundry, as she knew that she was going to have a lot to do this afternoon.

"Kim, being a ranger is not as important as you, you know that don't you?" Tommy asked, as he got the feeling that him saying that he wouldn't go out there was not expected. The fork she was holding clattered as it hit the floor and she began to cry, silently, as she kept herself from facing him. She had always felt as if she came second to the rangers even when they first began dating and to know that it had been misplaced this whole time. It was really upsetting to her, to think that she didn't trust Tommy enough to believe in his actions, without the words being said.

"I'm sorry," Kim said, as Tommy stood up to grab himself a drink.

What was there for her to be sorry about? Hell, he should be the one that was apologizing, after putting her back into this situation. The one thing, he had promised himself was that his wife and children, wouldn't have to live in fear of being attacked by a monster, because of him being out there. He had never thought that he wouldn't be able to keep that promise, but now it seemed like that was coming true and he could do nothing about it. The Dino gems choose you, you didn't get the chance to choose them.

"What do you have to be sorry for? I was the one, who caused all of this," Tommy said, closing the refrigerator door empty-handed and turning to see the tears that had slipped out, unchecked. What in the world could be causing her to act like this? He knew that she was usually an emotional wreck when he got back, but it usually was over with after she cried on his shoulder for a little while. "Hey, it's gonna be alright. We've been through worse before."

"Tommy, I do have something to be sorry for, I always thought that you being a ranger meant more to you than I did," Kim said, as Tommy's jaw dropped, at the completely unexpected declaration that he had just heard come from her lips.

She looked at him, as his mouth moved, but absolutely no words came out of it, as he could only stare at her in confusion. She thought that him doing his duty, as a ranger was more important than she was? She was the reason he was able to become a ranger in the first place, because of the love she showed pulled him out of the evil spell he was under, all of those years ago in Angel Grove park. How could she think that being a ranger was more important to him than her? If it hadn't been for her, he would have never done so many things that he was proud of now.

"How could you? Why would you even think? Kim, you're the reason I am a Power Ranger today," Tommy finally spit out, after he recovered from his momentary shock. Kim looked away and tried to wipe the tears away, but only managed to spread flour across her face. She could feel Tommy coming up behind her, but she didn't want to face him, not after telling him that. She knew that it had to hurt him and that was the last thing she wanted to do now. All she wanted was for him to be safe, but that seemed like it was never going to happen, not as long as there was evil out there and that was always going to be a possibility with the way their luck was. "Look at me, Kim. I want you to know that being a ranger has always come second to having you in my life. Did Zordon ever tell you how close I was to leaving the team after we broke up?"

"You almost did what?" Kim asked, spinning around to face him and saw a successful grin spread across his face, as he had gotten her to look at him.

Zordon hadn't told her or probably anyone about it, but he did say that Tommy had been different since she ended their relationship. She could never imagine him wanting to quit, but until a few moments ago, she had thought most of his words were just a custom. Although she should have known better, but her mind still had doubts, that he would ever be able to fully forgive her, for what she had done to the two of them.

"I almost quit it all. Being a ranger was one of the best things that had ever happened to me and it was all because of you, you helped me out of my problems when I first became a ranger. You were there for all of it and you were there when I became the leader of the rangers. When you didn't want me anymore, I didn't want to be a part of anything that had to do with you, including being the white ranger that you loved," Tommy said, sadly remembering the day that he had talked to Zordon about putting the suit away and just letting someone else take over. Zordon had been so sure that it would all be fixed, if he let it take its natural course. The 'natural' course took five years and that was far too long, but they were back together now and he was not going to complain about that. "Jason talked me back into it, he said it was what you would want me to do, that you would want me to stick with it, no matter how much it hurt for me to do just that. I was glad in the end, but it hurt every time I looked at the pink ranger, knowing it wasn't you standing there next to me. I should have come after you, but I didn't. I let that half ass excuse work, because I never thought I was good enough for you."

"Tommy," Kim said, covering her mouth and backing away from him. She thought she had put everything behind her, but she felt it bubbling up inside of her again. He was not mad and she knew that, but she did not feel as if she deserved to have him back in her life, at all. "I'm…"

"Shh, it's alright. We're together now and nothing else matters. I don't care about the past anymore; it's done with now," Tommy said, pulling her towards him and feeling her settle her weight on his chest. These last few days had given her more time to think about what she wanted out of life and all of those thoughts centered around him just being in her life. He knew that if he hadn't been unconscious, then she would have been the only thing on his mind as well, but things happened to cause him to just lie in Mesogogg's lair, doing nothing for the time that he was captured.

"Tommy," Jason said, walking into the kitchen and nearly dropping the teleportation grid to the floor, which would have been a disaster. Billy had called him last night to come up here, just in case Tommy had not woken up, then they were going to take him to the hospital, no matter what. He had gotten the feeling that Kim didn't know about it, but his surprise visit would be welcome, especially with the present that he had for all of them to work on.

"Jase?" Kim asked, looking up from Tommy's chest and turning around to face the person that had that voice, which had been embedded in her mind since she was a young child. Why in the world was he here? She hadn't called him, but maybe Billy and Hayley thought it best, as they had not known that if Tommy would have woken up by now and they knew if he hadn't, she would not have been able to tolerate anything or almost anyone for that matter.

"I guess he woke up," Jason said, giving Kim a hug, after placing the teleportation grid on the table, and watching Tommy's eyes never leave Kim's body. He was going to have a lot of work to do, as the teleportation grid had been finished, but that wasn't the real reason he was up there. His real reason was to ensure Kim would not break down, although he could tell that she had been crying. Although it was probably tears of joy this time, thank goodness.

"Yeah, he did. Thanks for coming up here Jason, I really appreciate it," Kim said, finally being able to get back to working on breakfast. Jason sat down at the table, to catch up with Tommy and talk to him about what he was going to do with Trini or so he hoped.

"You look like you've been thinking about something," Tommy said, as Jason could not believe that he was picking up on that despite his tiredness.

"Well, I have," Jason said, as he watched Kim happily continue to fix food and she seemed to not be paying attention to what they were talking about, so he felt it was safe to continue. "I've got a ring."

"Whoa, I didn't think you were that serious," Tommy said, as he had only been joking around with Jason when they had been up there last.

"I am, but enough about me. What happened to you when you were up there?" Jason asked, as Kim slowed her work and tuned into their conversation. She definitely was interested in hearing all of this, but she knew that whatever he said, was not going to be good.

"I don't really know too much of what happened. When I woke up Zeltrax was there and he said that Mesogogg was pleased with what had been done to me. If they tortured me, I didn't know, I was unconscious most of the time, but I did get some valuable information. They only have three informants, like we thought, but the woman has yet to come into any battle and I don't know, but she looks familiar to me. Sometime while I was there, the dino gem showed up in my hand and now I'm the black ranger," Tommy said, as Jason looked between Kim and he, trying to digest what had been said.

Tommy was a ranger again and Kim was all right with it? Or was she just buying her time, waiting to get back into action herself? Jason did not like the way this seemed to be going, but as long as they were fine with it, he was not going to argue with Tommy. He was just glad that he was safe and back at home, where he belonged.

"You're alright with this?" Jason asked, as Kim slid the biscuits into the oven. She took her time removing the oven mitts and apron, trying to formulate the best answer in her mind. She didn't want to make Tommy mad or upset, but she had to tell Jason the truth, or he would pull it out of her, as they both knew how he got when he knew someone was lying to him. He already knew what her answer would be by the amount of time that she was taking to answer his, simple, innocent question.

"No, but he promised he wouldn't go out on our wedding day, if something happened that day, so I don't care. I'll be all right," Kim said, as Jason and Tommy smiled at her. Tommy knew, already, how she felt about him going back into this, just by looking at her. Jason only had to imagine how Trini would react in the same situation and he was able to figure out how Kim felt about all of this very easily.

"The wedding, I forgot about that," Jason said, as he thought about his best man's speech, which was lying at his office, nowhere near being finished. He didn't have a real clue as to what he was going to write about, but it was going to have to be good to get into their wedding, he knew that much from being around Kim almost everydaythroughout their school years. "I do not know what I am going to talk about."

"Whatever you want to Jason, neither of us care," Tommy said, as Kim settled herself in his lap. He knew that she had been worried about him after the island fiasco, but him being captured, again, had definitely pushed her over the edge. He was not going to leave her sight, if she could help it and she really meant it this time. "I'm not going anywhere without you, am I?"

"Nope, I'm going to attach myself to your side for the next few weeks," Kim said with a smile, as Jason smiled while Tommy, happily, put his arms around Kim and buried his face in her hair letting a few tears drip out of his eyes. Of all the things she could have done, not letting him out of her sight was something he could live with no matter what else happened to them over the next few weeks. If he had to go with her everywhere, he would be fine with it, as long as she felt that she was being insured that he would not be captured, again. The sad thing was that they knew that didn't guarantee that this would not happen again to him or anyone else for that matter.

"I can live with that," Tommy said with an unseen smile, as Hayley and Billy walked up from the command center. It had taken a little bit longer to get in touch with the other rangers, but they were happy when they heard that he had woken up and said they'd see him on Monday, since he would be at school, thank goodness. They had to keep the suspicion down and one way by doing that was telling everyone that Tommy had recovered from his stomach flu over the weekend, which happened to be the illness that was keeping him and Kim, from going to school on Friday. "Now, what are we going to do for the rest of the weekend? We can't just sit around here."

"We can rest, though. I know that you need it," Kim said, as the others laughed at the suggestion. They never rested when they needed to, but would always try in vain to get some sleep any ways and then they would just become more aggravated with the whole situation, which caused them to get out of bed and go talk to each other. "Well, maybe we'll just hang out."

"How have Trini and you been?" Billy asked, as he fixed himself a cup of luke-warm coffee.

No one really talked to him about all of it, but Hayley knew that he was just curious about what had been happening between the two of them over the past few months. He and Trini had been good friends before they dated and he had wanted to keep it that way, but they had drifted apart some as things had started to heat up over the past few years, namelybecause some thought that he might still have feelings for her. Although, Kim and Tommy were certain that his heart was set on Hayley now and no one else had entered his mind in months, but convincing Jason of that was a different story.

"We've been alright, but she's had some things going on at work that she shouldn't have to deal with. Her boss has turned out to be a real bitch. She thought she would like the promotion she got, but she is ready to go somewhere else," Jason said, as he knew Tommy could associate with what it was like to have a boss that acted like that day in and day out. It could get on your nerves more than anything else could, but Trini's problems were worse than Tommy's, from what he could see. "After everything she has been through, I don't blame her."

"Sounds a lot like you," Hayley said, thumping Tommy on the back of the head and he then turned his head to the side to mock glare at her. It was well known that Tommy disliked his boss, but he had the rangers to blame for him staying at that job.

"At least his boss doesn't try to hit on him," Jason muttered, as Kim, the only one who heard him, looked sharply at him. What, exactly, was he suggesting this woman had done to Trini?

"Jase, are you saying…" Kim asked, as the timer went off, but she steadily ignored it. She was only focusing on the statement Jason had made and what it meant for her friend.

"Yeah, that's the main reason why she wants to leave," Jason said, as he could tell the timer was beginning to get on Tommy's nerves, but he was not going to throw Kim out of his lap, yet. He was sure that Tommy did not want to start a fight with her over something like that, not this early in the morning at least.

"Poor Trini," Kim said, as she finally heard the timer and walked over to the oven to take out the pan of biscuits. Tommy stood and went to the refrigerator to gather some other things they would need for breakfast.

"Yeah, but it will be settled soon, I hope," Jason said, as the siren sounded from downstairs and they all looked towards the open trapdoor. Tommy, immediately, went to morph and call the other rangers, but before he was able to get down into the command center, Kim had grabbed him by the wrist, the picture of determination. He did not want to deal with this right now, but the time had come for them to decide about whether or not she would be out there in the field.

"I'm coming with you," Kim muttered, holding onto his wrist as he tried to deny her that choice with his eyes begging her to not do this. He did not want to put her in danger, but she looked determined and he was not ready to go up against her on her becoming more involved with the ranger life again. He had put her in this, the least he could let her do was choose if she wanted to become involved herself, although he wished that he could make that choice for her this time.

"Fine," Tommy said, grabbing her hand and pulling her into the command center. Why did she have to be like this at times like these?

_Reefside's Park_

"Dr. O, what are you doing here?" Conner asked, as Tommy came up on his, very own, raptor cycle. He had expected that Tommy would have stayed at home, as he was probably still weak from everything that he had been through over the past few days.

"I don't have time to answer that Conner," Tommy said, as he dismounted his cycle with Kim hot on his heels. One of the tryadrones came after her and as it did, Tommy stepped in front of her. He was going to protect her as long as he could, although he knew that might only be a short period of time, as she was bound to be very aggressive. "These guys seem to be bothering you."

"Who's the little one, Tommy?" Zeltrax asked, tauntingly, as Kim glared up at him from her position next to Tommy. She had been referred to as 'the little one' enough times to make her sick to her stomach when she heard it and she always did the same thing, prove that the little one packed a big punch. She started heading towards him, as Tommy looked over at her and tried to restrain her, knowing that this might not have a good outcome for at least one of the parties involved. He couldn't help but be afraid that she would be the one that would get the worst end of the deal. "I never knew you had a child."

"No, he just didn't," Kira said, as Kim slammed Zeltrax to the ground, with one well-planned blow. Tommy watched as Zeltrax stood up, shocked at the girl's strength, and tried to charge at her.Tommy, then was distracted by a group of tryadrones and lost sight of how Kim was doing against Zeltrax.

"I have news for you," Kim said, twisting his shoulder to where he couldn't make any deffensive move against her. The others continued to battle the tryadrones, while Kim had a little heart to heart with Zeltrax, letting him know good and well where she stood. "This little one can kick your ass, any day."

"Ms. Kimberly Hart," Richard said, as the former pink ranger threw Zeltrax into a nearby tree. If anyone could break her concentration on going after Zeltrax it would be him and Mesogogg knew that, as he had been told of her reaction to his sudden appearance at her home a few weeks before. That was why he sent him down there, to see what the girl could really do on her own, against someone she was scared of. It seemed that, she was a lot like her fiancé, which would make her an asset they could use against him one day. "Never knew you had that type of temper inside of you. Maybe working for evil would be a good release with a temper like that."

"Tommy he's there," Jason's voice barked out of Tommy's communicator and he snatched his head up, knowing exactly whom Jason was talking about. Kim had gone rigid at the sound of Richard's voice and she was trying to figure out what to do, in order to not put herself in a bad situation. Tommy turned around to see Kim was standing still, staring at Richard, but he knew he wouldn't be able to make it there before the first blow was dealt.

"Fight, Kim!" Tommy yelled, more as a vote of confidence than anything else. Hearing Tommy's voice seemed to break her out of her trance-like state and she threw her arm up, just in time, to block Richard's attack. He was stronger than he was the last time she had fought him and one look at Tommy let him know she would need his help on this one. She could not do it alone this time. "I'm coming!"

"Are you, Tommy?" Zeltrax asked, standing up to stop the black ranger's progress towards where Kim and Richard were in battle. Mesogogg had wanted to see what the girl could do on her own and the longer he could keep Tommy away, the more they could find out about her and what she was able to do without Mr. Oliver around, as it was possible they could use it against him one day. If she was as valuable as he was, taking her away would not only distract Tommy, but it would make them one fighter short, what a pity. "You know, you're always going to let her down."

"Brachio staff," Tommy said, summoning his weapon and beginning the battle to get past Zeltrax and over to Kim. If Richard opened an invisaportal and took Kim through it, there was no telling what could happen to her and he did not want to risk that, not after just getting back to her. She meant more to him than his own life and if that was what it took to keep her safe, then he was willing to give that, as he had thought about it several times before now, when he could think rationally. "You've messed with the wrong one Zeltrax."

"Oh, I have?" Zeltrax asked, as he slammed Tommy into a nearby tree and Tommy took his time getting up to face the cyborg, as he was truly trying to concentrate on all of this.

Conner and Ethan noticed their teacher's predicament, but before they could make it over to him, another group of tryadrones appeared around them, stopping their progress. Kira had been making her way over to help Kim, but now was surrounded as well. It looked like Kim was going to be left alone with Richard for a little while and Tommy did not like that at all. As the longer it was just the two of them, the more damage he could do to her, as an unprotected human being.

"Well, it looks like precious little Tommy won't be able to help you this time. You're all alone with me," Richard whispered in Kim's ear, as she struggled to get out of his grasp, but only felt it tighten around her body. She could only pray that he did not have plans to finish what he had started all those years ago. If he did, then she was going to be in trouble soon and she knew that much from her previous experiences around here.

"Let me go," Kim roared, as she kicked his shin as hard as she could, thankful that she still had some strength left in her from her last stretch as a ranger. He dropped her, from pure shock and she immediately ran towards the jungle gym, where she would have the upper hand. By the time she reached it, Richard had closed most of the distance between them, but all Kim could see was the monkey bars and she knew that she could vault her way on top of them, without any help.

"Kimmie, why do you have to be like this?" Richard asked, as he reached out to grab her and tackle her to the ground, but found himself being kicked by her as she threw herself at the monkey bars and quickly worked herself to where she was standing on top of them, well out of his reach.

"Never call me Kimmie again," Kim said, glaring down at the man, as he grabbed onto the monkey bars and pulled himself up, but he forgot about her gymnastics training, momentarily. Kim centered herself and then executed a back flip, making sure her feet connected with Richard's chin. When she landed on the ground, she saw him shaking his head and trying to reorient himself. She saw that this might be her only opportunity to reunite with the rangers and she ran for it, arriving at Kira's side within a few seconds. Richard, once he had found himself only saw her back, running to help another ranger, as it seemed that she was always doing.

"If that's the way she wants it," Richard said and then transported himself over to where Kim was standing. She was going to have to prove herself worthy if he was going to continue to fight her and she had not done a good enough job, yet.

"Kira, watch out!" Kim yelled, as a tryadrone blindsided her and the yellow ranger fell to the ground from the blow. She then threw herself into fighting the tryadrones, but noticed that they were not going after her as much as they were Kira and it only took her a few seconds to figure out why. Someone who could punish her more was standing there and when she spun around, there he was again. Wasn't he ever going to leave her alone?

"You know that you are making a mistake running from me, don't you?" Richard asked, as Kim backed away, looking for something she could use against him. She could fight the tryadrones without any weapons, but she knew she would need more than her body to go up against this man.

"Kim, set me up!" Tommy yelled, from across the park. Although Zeltrax and he were still in an intense duel, he knew that if he could get Richard over there with the two of them, then the odds would be in their favor, as they had worked together much longer than Todd and Richard. Long enough, that they knew each other's moves before they did them, which was a real plus in this business.

"Can do!" Kim yelled and began back-handspringing towards Tommy. She knew that she would not beat Richard by running, but he could not keep up with her back-handsprings while walking, so he would have to run after her, which was what Tommy would anticipate him to be doing. "I wish these things would learn that they're never going to win as long as we are here."

"You do? I just wish that I could go through a whole week without something exciting happening," Tommy said, as she landed beside him, face flushed from the activity that had brought her next to him. Zeltrax looked at the two of them and then his group of tryadrones, as long as they were holding out, he was going to continue to fight, maybe he would be able to find a weakness in the black ranger's technique, which seemed to be flawless, so far. Richard was heading over there, to come after Kim, but it seemed that the two of them had something up their sleeves, something that they would not be prepared for. "Take this and if he comes within five feet of you, make him pay."

"Tommy, you need this more than I do," Kim said, as he placed his Brachio staff in her hands and simply shook his head no. Richard was making a beeline for her, so she thrust the spear of the staff into the ground and prepared herself to take flight, as she was no good at sword or staff work. Tommy had worked his way over to Zeltrax and had managed to pull him closer to the two of them, just in time for Richard to come flying into him. Zeltrax tried to send another blow towards Tommy, as he was shocked, but he grabbed Richard and threw him towards Zeltrax, just in time to block the blow that had been heading towards his body.

"Get off of me," Zeltrax mumbled, throwing Richard off of him and going back after Tommy or so he thought. When he finally got back up, Tommy had disappeared and his girlfriend was standing there, staff ready to attack either one of them, if they were dumb enough to try and cross her. She knew how inexperienced she was in this area of fighting, but they were scared to know that he was confident enought to give her his weapon of choice. "He left you alone? What type of man does that?"

"The type, who likes to see you squirm," Tommy said, as Zeltrax and Richard watched Kim smile, as she stepped towards them, knowing Tommy was standing right next to her, prepared to power back up if he needed to. She could see that the tryadrones were gone and it was just the seven of them, wouldn't it be lovely when they saw that they were alone?

"Kim, I'll see you again and next time, you might want to be prepared for him to die," Richard said, as Zeltrax opened an invisaportal and the two of them disappeared through it. Tommy stole a glimpse at Kim, once he had returned to his normal form, and she was looking at him, determination seen in her brown eyes. If he thought he was going to kill Tommy, he was going to have to get through her first and Tommy knew that all too well.

"The two of you are amazing," Conner said, as he powered down and Kim and Tommy could only laugh at him. It did help that they had almost a decade more of experience than they did at this, not that they were going to try to point that out to Conner now. He just seemed amazed that Kim was not injured and she couldn't morph, although Tommy had been the same way before he became one of them. "Are all of you like this?"

"Most of us are," Tommy said, putting an arm around Kim and turning them towards their raptor cycles, so they could head back to his place, to discuss the latest attack they had been through. The only one that they had not seen in battle was the woman that was working for Mesogogg, but he knew it would only be a matter of time before she appeared as well and when she did they were honestly going to have their hands full. "Come on, let's get back to my place before anyone sees us on these things."

"So, Dr. Oliver thinks that he has outsmarted me again. Well, I have news for him, the next time I attack he may not make it out alive," Mesogogg said, as the two 'men' looked at him.

They knew that they had tried to put up a united front against Tommy and Kim, but they also knew that the two of them, together, were more than they wanted to go up against. Even when they were apart, they knew how to get themselves back together, by known cues to the rest of the world and there was nothing they could do against them. They, however, were smart enough to not say anything to Mesogogg about that, as they were likely to be punished for pointing out a flaw in his idea.

**AN:** That's the end of this chapter and I hope that you have enjoyed it. This being roughly the halfway point of this story, I may take some time to go back and revise previous chapters, but as it seems, I have not gotten too many complaints, although that is just normal in this business. If there are any details that have confused you, feel free to contact me and I will try to explain them to you. Thank you to the readers and feel free to review. Until next time, happy reading!


	16. The Old Communicator Toll

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**XRachX:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you're enjoying all of it.

**jedi4jesu19:** Glad that you have enjoyed it!

Now, on with the Story!

_Another Boring Monday Tommy's POV _

It has been two weeks since I received the black, dino ranger, powers and during these last few weeks, some odd things have happened to all of us, but they have not all been bad things, thank goodness. Mesogogg has finally decided to send some monsters of his own to attack the rangers, but they have not phasedour rangers, yet. Kim, however, has been taking some beatings with all of this and I don't really know what to do to try and stop that from happening. She will not be content to sit in the command center and watch the battles, so she's out there with us, for the time being.

_Space Ranger Headquarters _

Over the past month, Alpha had been gathering everything that he needed to make his, unscheduled, return to the Earth and the Power Rangers that he had first worked with. Tommy had done a good job with finding and training these new rangers, but as Alpha had watched the battles escalate in severity; he saw one thing that worried him, more than anything else did.

Tommy was allowing Kim to fight with them, which he knew, was inevitable as they were back together, but after Tommy was captured, he knew what had to be done. He had to get back to help them, because they did not have the capabilities to find someone quickly and time was definitely of the essence in a situation like that. Lucky for them, Tommy had been able to escape on his own, but next time they might not be that lucky. As the younger rangers did not have the experience that Tommy and Kim did in getting away from these creatures, even though they might now be able to make a clean escape if they were captured by Mesogogg, but Alpha doubted that and he was fairly sure that Tommy felt the same way.

"Andros," Alpha said, teetering into the module that Andros had lived in for many years now. He had only made one 'move' in the space station and that was when his last room had been destroyed by some monster they were fighting, as usual. He had packed his 'bags', which were a couple of metal trunks and had them rolling behind him on a trolley. Andros was not going to be happy with this, but he knew he had to go help them, no matter what anyone else said. They were not going be able to survive some battles without his or someone else's help. He knew that much and he knew that this is what Zordon would have wanted him to do, although he was not there to tell him that any longer.

"Alpha, why do you like you're planning to leave us?" Andros asked, as he walked over to the robot and could tell that he was not going to like what was said, when the robot started talking. Alpha looked at the ground for a few seconds before he had an idea of how it would be best to respond to Andros. He knew he had put his conversation with Alpha 5 about him leaving them to go back to the Earth rangers, in the far corners of his mind, but now he remembered it well. He was only hoping that Alpha was not planning to leave for Earth immediately, as not all of the rangers were there to tell him good bye, which was something they would want to do.

"I am leaving you, Andros. The Earth rangers need more help down there than you do, they've been lucky so far," Alpha said, as Cassie walked in behind him. She knew Andros did not want to let him go, but she had seen what was going on down there with her own eyes. Although Tommy had been able to find good rangers and a good support team, he still needed a little bit of guidance, which was something Alpha could give to them. Andros was scared that Tommy would not need Alpha, but the little robot seemed very sure that he would and knowing Tommy, he was not likely to turn Alpha away.

"Alpha, Tommy would have contacted us if something was going on that he couldn't handle down there," Andros said, although he had, had no contact with the person who gave him his first powers since the red rangers went on their mission, four years ago. Cassie could only look on with a little bit of laughter in her eyes, knowing how long it had been since Andros and Tommy had talked, at great length, about anything. She knew more about Tommy's life than he did, although she was not going to point that out to him right now. If she did, Andros was likely to have a yelling match with Alpha and they did not need to depart on bad terms, knowing that they might never see him again, as this work was going to consume his life.

"No, he wouldn't get in touch with us, Andros. He doesn't even know that I have been keeping tabs on them lately. He was captured for two days a few weeks ago, Andros. He didn't call us after he escaped, did he Andro?" Alpha asked, as Andros looked over at Cassie to see if what Alpha said was true. She could only nod her head, as Andros sighed. He knew that he didn't have a choice now. Not that he had ever really had a choice in Alpha's mind. He had to let Alpha go back to Earth and help them. Tommy meant too much to all the rangers than to let him continue to risk his life like this. Although they had all done it, he definitely seemed to find himself in those situations the most often out of the group and no knew why he was singled out that way, even the evil people didn't really understand it.

"Alpha, are you sure you want to do this? I mean, there are bound to be other people that can help them just as much as you can," Andros said, going through the steel doors of his room and back out, heading towards the main module of the ship. Alpha teetered along behind him, rolling his baggage behind him as they walked towards the transport bay, knowing that Andros had given in to his request.

"I wouldn't have asked it I didn't think that they would need the help down there," Alpha said, as Andros punched in Tommy's scanner code, but he did not show up, like he had in the past when he used that code, particular code. Why wouldn't Tommy show up at all? There would be no reason for him to not show up. This code had worked ever since they defeated Nicarni-Aso, two years ago.

"Where's Tommy?" Andros asked, as Alpha scooted him out of the way and punched in a new code and then Tommy's image was displayed on the screen. He sure had changed since the last time he had seen him, but at least he looked happy. The last time he had seen Tommy, he still had his long hair and earring, but those things were gone now and had been replaced by shockingly short hair. The only way that he could tell it was Tommy was because he was teaching a martial arts class at the moment and it did help that Rocky was standing only a few feet away, talking with Kim or at least that was who he thought it was. The last he had heard the two of them were still on the ropes, but it didn't seem to be that way anymore. "Why has his code changed, Alpha? It only does that if he gets new powers."

"He does have new powers, Andros. So you see he can not lead in battle and in the command center as well. There is a girl named Hayley, she has been helping him and Kimberly, but I'm sure that they can use all the extra help that they can get," Alpha said, as Andros realized what that meant. They had to be in over their heads, for Tommy to be willing to come out of retirement, for what seemed like the tenth or eleventh time. No one could be sure how many times it was now or even if some of those times had been considered retirement for him. If he was given the powers and actually fighting, Mesogogg must be testing them more thanTommy thought he could to all of them.

"Where do you want me to teleport you to?" Andros asked, as he focused the beam on Alpha. He hated to let him go, but there was not much they could do about it. It was time he returned to the rangers he had started this mission with, so many years before they even came into the ranger picture at all.

"Their command center, it's where I belong," Alpha said, as he handed Andros the coordinates and then prepared himself to be teleported. He did not like the experience of teleportation at all, but it was the easiest way for him to get there without Tommy and Kim knowing. "I'll miss you all."

"Good-bye, Alpha," Andros said, as he pressed the buttons in, slowly and methodically, wishing that Alpha would change his mind. Cassie waved towards him, as she let a few tears slip out, as Andros punched in the last key and looked over at her. He had become family to all of them and to see him go back to the family he had in the beginning. It hurt them a lot, but it was something he had to do, even if they didn't want him to.

"Good-bye, rangers. Let the power protect you," Alpha said, using the line that Zordon had used so many times on the rangers departure from his presence. It was one of the few things that could be carried to all rangers and it would not be misunderstood anywhere he went.

_An Old Communicator Alert _

That afternoon, at Hayley's Cyberspace, the teenage rangers had gathered to have a little down time in between battles and study for some of their upcoming tests, including Dr. Oliver's. They never knew when an attack would come and Dr. Oliver told them to enjoy the peace while they could, as it would be few and far between some weeks.

They had a new friend and fellow ranger, Trent Fernadez, but along with him came some new problems for them, at first. He got a hold of the white dino gem and went evil, for awhile there. Thank goodness, they had been able to get to him, in time to stop him from killing Hayley and Kim, in the command center a week ago. The two of them were pretty banged up from that confrontation, but after some talking to, they agreed to let Trent on the team, especially since Kim knew what it was like for the evil ranger to turn into one of the best, although Tommy would never admit it to them. Yeah, it had been rough since Dr. O got his powers, but it all seemed like it was going to be alright. Even the planning of their wedding was going smoothly, which was definitely a change for them.

Kim walked into the dojo, to see Tommy sparring with one of his students, and sat down on one of the benches, after talking with Rocky for a little while. She propped herself up against the plaster wall and smiled as she watched Tommy do the one thing he loved in this world, karate. She didn't think it best to disturb him, as she knew how much concentration it took him to spar with his upper level students. It had been a long time since she had done this and she knew him well enough to know what a distraction she would be on the mats or anywhere within his range of peripheral vision.

She took a glance at his wrist, out of old habit, and noticed that he was not wearing his communicator, which was odd for him to say the least. He never took the thing off, not even to shower, or sleep, but she guessed that when he taught, he felt as if he didn't want the chance at being distracted, as it could get him injured. That afternoon, for some reason, she knew he would need it, sooner or later, and went into the locker room to take it out of his bag.

When she returned to the gym floor, an old, familiar toll sounded through the communicator's speaker, one that caused her to stop dead in her tracks and stare at the shiny, silver bracelet she held in her hands. There was no way she could be hearing that, her mind was just playing tricks on her. She knew that she wanted to be back in the game, but there was no way she wanted it bad enough to go back to being a teenager.

"Alpha," Kim muttered, looking at the communicator and then quickening her pace as the toll sounded again, knowing Tommy had to hear it to believe it. Who else would use that toll or even know about it existing? Unless they knew, that Tommy was one of the original rangers and Hayley never knew that there were other tolls used on the past communicators. But why would Alpha want to get in touch with Tommy, now after all of these years that he had not contacted them? "Tommy, you have a call."

"Can it wait?" Tommy asked, as he paused in his sparring with Charlie and looked over at Kim, slightly worried that she had even intruded on this session, as she usually didn't talk at all while he was sparring. Kim was cradling his communicator in her hand and there was something about it that unnerved him. Why would she have his communicator, unless someone, from the ranger world, was trying to get in touch with him, but who could it be?

"No, you need to take this call, Tommy," Kim said, as Tommy quickly followed her into his office and shut the door behind him. He looked over at the telephone and saw it remained, securely, in its cradle. Then, he heard that familiar toll sound, bringing a flood of memories back and he looked down at his communicator, which Kim was now holding out towards him. There was absolutely no way, Hayley would use that tone. No one knew about it, except the first rangers, Zordon, and Alpha.

"Is this my call?" Tommy asked, as he gingerly took the communicator from her and held it to his lips. She watched as he pressed the buttons and called out to the person across the line, not knowing what to expect. "Come in, Hayley."

"Tommy, I'm so glad I got it touch with you," Alpha's voice said over the communicator. Kim clutched Tommy's hand, as she heard the robot's voice come over the speaker, nearly falling over upon it registering who was on the other side of the line. Why was Alpha contacting Tommy? Was there something else going on that they needed to know about? "I need to meet with you, soon."

There was no way there could be another evil threatening the Earth right now. They could handle Mesogogg, but if another one had showed up, the old rangers were coming out of retirement, no questions asked. This was something Tommy knew that they did not want to do right now, after they had finally settled into a nice little pattern of normalcy, although that could very quickly be changed, for any of them.

"Alpha, where are you?" Tommy asked, as he pulled his hand out of Kim's grasp and put his arm around her, pulling her as close to his side as he could and he felt her arms slip around his waist. He could tell that she was just as surprised as he was about all of this. They had all thought that Alpha had gone back to Eltar after Zordon died, put obviously he did not and now he needed to talk to them, which made them worry.

"In the command center, Tommy. Just meet me here once you are done teaching your karate class," Alpha said, as Kim and Tommy glanced at each other. How could he have gotten into the command center without Hayley or one of the other rangers letting him in? If Alpha were able to get in so easily, what was to say that Mesogogg wouldn't be able to get in as easily as well? They had taken many precautions, but it seemed like there were still some things that need to be updated on the new command center, but hopefully Alpha could do that.

"Yes, Alpha," Tommy said, releasing the communicator and placing one hand on his forehead and squeezing his temples. This sure was stressful and he was not sure he would be able to finish the class after the 'phone call' he had just had, with an old friend.

He had never thought he would hear from Alpha again and now that he had, he was not feeling all that well. He looked down at Kim to see that she had gone pale as well and he knew what he was going to have to do. They had to get home, immediately, as neither would be able to function until they knew what had brought their old friend back to Earth, so unexpectedly.

"Tommy," Kim muttered, asshe let him go and looked at his face. He felt the same way thatshe did about this, but there was not much they could doabout it. Alpha either wanted to help or he had some horriblenews for them.

"Kim, I'm letting my class go early today. We have to get to the command center now," Tommy said, as he went to reach for the door knob that led back to the mats of the dojo.

"That's fine, Tommy," Kim said, as she went out the back exit of his office, to gather his duffel bag and other belongings from the locker room. They could not teleport out, as the teleportation grid's installation had not been finished, yet. They had to drive the distance between the dojo and their house. But the question still loomed in her mind, why was Alpha here?

"Alpha, it's so good to see you," Kim said, walking into the command center, with Tommy only a few steps behind her. The robot teetered over to her and gave her a small hug, before heading over to Tommy, who looked at him with a question obviously playing on his mind. He did not blame Tommy for having several questions to ask of him, but hopefully he could answer most of them without too much trouble.

"It's good to see you too, but I know that you want to know what brought me here," Alpha said, as Tommy shook his head in agreement with him. Alpha then sighed and went over to one of his trunks and opened the lid. He then pulled out the information he had on Mesogogg and found a place to load it. Tommy was not going to like seeing this when it came up, but he had to know all of the facts about Mesogogg, if he was ever going to be able to defeat him. "Does he look familiar to you?"

"Anton Mercer," Tommy said, looking at the screen, as Kim looked up at Tommy, wondering why seeing Anton Mercer would get this type of reaction from him. Anton Mercer had showed up with Trent, but he seemed to be nice enough to Tommy, although they both agreed it was suspicious that he hid himself until now. There were all of those months when they had assumed Tommy was the only one who survived the explosion on that damned island, as they had now named it, but when they went to talk to Mercer about Mesogogg, all they received was the silent treatment. Yeah, it was more than a little bit suspicious for the ranger blood running through their veins, but he had never done anything to make them ask him if he was Mesogogg. "What does you being here have to do with him? He's just showed back up after the explosion."

"Yes, Tommy, but hasn't Mesogogg been around since Mercer disappeared and came back?" Alpha asked, as he punched in a few more keys and a fact sheet came up comparing Mesogogg and Mercer. Tommy began reading it and saw that there was a link there that could not be avoided, but could Anton Mercer really be Mesogogg? And if he was, was Trent willing to stay and fight against his father, once he found out? "Tommy, I want to help you. I know that you have Hayley, but there is going to come a time when she can not be here and you'll need the help. She can still do what she is doing, I just want to be able to help gather information for all of you."

"Alpha, how did you even know Mesogogg had attacked us?" Kim asked, as Alpha turned around and headed back over to his suitcases, again. He knew that they were going to ask about that, so it would probably be best that they heard it from Zordon himself. Then they would truly know the whole reason behind his sudden return to them.

"This is probably going to be hard for you to watch," Alpha said, as he placed the video in a player and pressed the play button. Zordon's image soon appeared on the screen, with what was his last will and testament. As soon as Kim saw Zordon, she felt Tommy put his arms around her and him settle his chin on top of her head. She felt dizzy, but he was able to keep her from fainting, as she grabbed one of his hands and held onto it with all her might. None of the rangers had ever seen it, as Alpha was sent to the Space Station soon after it was made and this was the first chance he had, had to show it to any of them.

"Hello, everyone. This is one of the last times that I will have an opportunity to do this and I think there are some things that all of you need to know. To the rangers, I want you to continue in the line of duty, as long as the people of Earth need your protection. Rangers will always be needed in this world and it has been a privilege to be around so many of you, during my short stay here. Now there are some things I want to say to the rangers that I have chosen to protect this world, as I hope it will help you down the line.

"Tommy, you will find her again, trust me on that one. It may take a long time, but you will, have some faith and trust in me on this one. Jason, be strong for the rest of them and the leader that I know you are. You will have to make some tough decisions, but they will listen to you, when they won't even talk to some of the others. Kimberly, we all make mistakes in this life, I only hope that you will be able to correct your mistake before it is too late. Rocky, you have proved yourself worthy of this task, do not doubt your abilities. Adam, I know where your strength lies, do not let her get away from you, like you have seen so many of your friends do. Aisha, watch out for your friends, they are going to need it over the next few years. Billy, they will need all of information that you can provide and expertise only you can give. I only hope you will be there to give it to them. Zack, keep them smiling, times will be rough on all of you. Trini, you will find everything you need, although it may be later than you like. Katherine and Tanya, although I did not know you as long as the rest, I know that you will always be there to back them up, when they need the extra encouragement. Alpha, there is one thing I ask of you, watch out for the rangers once I am gone. They will need leadership some day and you will need to come back and help them. Good-bye rangers and let the power protect you," Zordon finished, and the video flickered out, until the white noise took over. Kim and Tommy, where both crying, while wishing he was back there with them now. He would have been there to help them with all of the problems they had, had and he would have been a wealth of knowledge that they so desperately needed right now.

"You see, he asked me to watch after you and I have been doing that. I watched you, Kimberly, destroy Nicarni-Aso. I watched Tommy nearly be killed on that 'damned' island, as you like to call it, and I watched Mesogogg send out his first attacks on you and the new group of rangers that the two of you have put together. If you do not want me to be here, I'll leave, but all I want to do is offer you my assistance," Alpha said, as Kim and Tommy, looked at each other and then at Alpha. They were not going to turn him away. They knew how much they needed his help, but they didn't know how receptive the rest of the team would be to this new face.

"Alpha, we want you to stay, but the others have to meet you and they have to be part of the decision," Tommy said, as he went to contact the new rangers and felt Kim still clinging to his hand, as he pulled her along. Neither of them could believe that Zordon would leave a message like that for all of them and it still hit them hard, although it was a long time removed from the actual event of his death. "And Alpha, the rest of the old rangers need to see that, too. It's been a long time, maybe they'll be able to handle it."

"I know, Tommy. They will, one day," Alpha said, while busily unloading his luggage and storing things away in the command center. All of the information he had gathered had been put into their main data collection module, which would surely help them as things went on. He was glad to be back with all of them, but he was wondering how the younger rangers would take to him.

_Hayley's Cyberspace _

"Dr. O, what's going on?" Conner asked, as the other rangers gathered around him. They could not see anything going on outside, but they knew there were many miles of Reefside that were out of their sight range.

"I need you to meet me at the command center, there is someone here that you need to meet," Tommy said, as Conner and the other rangers exchanged a glance before, going to tell Hayley where they were heading off to. They did not want her toworry about an attack, since it just seemed like Dr. O had something on his mind. "Before you leave, tell Hayley I need her to come too."

"Okay, Dr. O," Conner said, as Trent headed over to talk to Hayley and she soon turned the place over to one of her other employees.

"Let's go, whatever Tommy has up his sleeve must be important," Hayley said, as she gathered her purse and keys. Tommy had better have a good excuse to get her to leave the cyberspace in the care of Alicia Spigett for any prolonged amount of time.

"So you don't know what it is, either?" Conner asked, as Ethan hit him in the back of the head.

"Conner, if she knew, I don't think Dr. O would be asking her to come with us, would he?" Ethan asked, as Trent and Kira could only smile at their actions. Hayley couldn't help but be reminded about Zack and Jason, as the two of them acted like this when the other said or did something moronic.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure," Conner said turning around to face Ethan.

"Heaven forbid we stop you from doing that," Trent said, as Conner glared over at him. It took them a little bit longer to get to Dr. O's than normal, but when they arrived everything seemed to be normal, at least from the outside.

"Dr. O, what did you call us here for?" Ethan asked, as he saw nothing that seemed out of the ordinary, yet.

"To let you meet someone that is important to me and will hopefully be helping us out here for awhile," Tommy said, as Alpha walked out from one of the storage closets and continued about his business, not noticing the teenagers that were staring at him.

"Who are you?" Conner asked, as Alpha just shook his head. There was always one ranger who did not think before they asked questions, obviously Conner was the one for this group of rangers. Tommy had told him that they should recognize him from the video diary, but there was a possibility that some of them wouldn't and he had thought that Conner would be the one.

"Alpha 5. I helped Zordon when he first created the Power Rangers and I'm hoping that you will let me help you as well," Alpha said, as Hayley looked over at the robot and thought about how Billy described him. She sure needed the extra help in finding information on Mesogogg and his gang and according to Billy, Alpha was one of the best people for the job. There was no way to find any information, until they were fighting the monsters and by then, it was too late. Alpha had capabilities that she didn't and she knew how much she needed the help. "Are you Hayley?"

"Yes and I think we could definitely use some help around here," Hayley said, with a smile and she watched as Kim and Tommy, silently celebrated her allowing him on the team. They had been afraid that Hayley wouldn't take to Alpha, but she seemed to be fine with him being here, thank goodness.

"Thank you, now I see that this teleportation grid needs to be finished," Alpha said, as Tommy smiled and watched him go to work on the grid. Alpha would have it up in a matter of hours and it was going to take them weeks to finish it, with Jason and Billy having to come in from Angel Grove to help every weekend until it was done.

**AN:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! I know that it is on the short side (for this story), but it needed to be in here and I hope that for those of you that were waiting for Alpha to return will like it! Happy reading, until next time!


	17. The Wedding

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**BrachioBoy:** Your welcome and like you said Alpha is just part of any Power Ranger story or it definitely should be. Thanks for the review!

**Rob:** Thanks for the review and to answer your questions. No, Justin will not be in this story, sorry if he is one of your favorite characters, but I do not know much about him. Secondly, the space rangers will be in this story in an off hand sense, you'll see more about that as you read further into it. I hope that answers your questions and if it doesn't feel free to tell me.

Now, on with the Story!

_The Wedding Day (Trini's POV) _

The day has finally arrived for Tommy and Kim to get married, to walk down that aisle into what will hopefully be a lifetime of happiness, for the two of them, together. It has been a long month and a half since Tommy received his newest powers and color, but the battles have calmed down some lately, thank goodness. We can only hope that they will continue to stay calm as the ceremony is going to begin in a matter of hours and none of us want to know that Tommy will be heading out as soon as the 'I dos' are said. It is a hard life we lead, but it is has become more like a tiny inconvenience for them after all of the time they have spent doing this, together and even apart.

"Trini, I'm worried," Kim said, as Trini carried in her wedding dress behind her and hung it up on the back of a door.

Kim had gotten one of the worst cases of last minute jitters imaginable and they had tried everything short of getting her drunk to calm her nerves. If they had to, they would go back to the hotel and grab a couple of beers from the boys room, just to calm her down enough to get her down the aisle. Then they would let Tommy take care of her, as he was the only one that could make the nerves go away, completely. They had allowed it to go far too far for them to be any good at calming her, even Trini and Aisha were no good.

"Kim, do we have to tell you again, that Tommy is not going to back out of this? He wants to marry you and has wanted to ever since he met you. You have nothing to worry about," Kat said, as she pinned Kim's hair back into a simple bun and placed her veil in it, before it fell back out.

They were trying to get her hair and make-up done, but Kim was not sitting still long enough to let them do anything, which was why her hair had been redone five times, at least. Kat had, had to forcibly place her in the chair, just to get this much done, but now she was jumping to her feet again, pacing around one of the upper rooms of the church, trying to get the nervous energy out of her system.

"No, it's just Mesogogg being at large. I don't feel right knowing that he won't go out into battle if something happens today. What if something happens to the kids? He'll never get over it if something like that happens," Kim said, as Trini threw her hands up in the air, out of pure frustration.

She knew that she was aggravating them, but keeping him away from something he needed to do, was something she did not like, although he seemed just fine with all of it. That was until a call came for him. Then his will would really be tested to keep his promise to her, although he had never broken one to her before and he did not intend to do that now, no matter how hard it might be.

"Kim, he's a big boy now. He can make choices on his own. He knows what might happen if he does not go out there with them, but I know he wouldn't miss this day for the world. He's waited long enough to marry you, don't you think?" Aisha asked, as Kim smiled over at Aisha and pushed that thought out of her mind, for the time being.

She couldn't help but wonder if the air of calm they had been living under would soon be crashed down upon, at the most inconvenient of times, as it always seemed to be for them. It just seemed to be their luck for something like this to happen to them whenever they were going to do something important in their relationship, as it had done right before he tried to kiss her the first time, boy were they both mad that day and Rita never knew what hit her when they battled against her.

"Thanks, Aisha. Ya'll try to keep me sane until I walk down the aisle, alright?" Kim asked, as they laughed at her statement to them. They were much more worried about their own mental well being, as she was bound to keep this up until she saw Tommy again and that left a good bit of time for her to drive them crazy.

"Whoa, did someone get drunk last night?" Tommy asked, as Rocky and Adam walked in, with sunglasses on to protect themselves from a horrible headache that was sure to ensue as soon as they took them off. To say that they had a small hangover was a vast understatement, neither could move without feeling sick and they were lucky to get to the church without becoming sick in the car, which was driven at well below the speed limit. Thank goodness that Billy had been willing to drive them, as neither was in the condition to run much less drive.

"Yeah, I think we enjoyed your bachelor party more than you did," Rocky said, as he braved to take off his sunglasses and face the new day, in all of its brightness.

He immediately covered his eyes and groaned as he felt the urge to throw up. To say it was hangover from hell was even an understatement right now, as his brain felt as if it was about to explode and his stomach contracted. He knew that he was going to be sick, but he did not have enough sense of the room to know where the bathroom was, so he was unable to point himself in the right direction.

"Get the drunks in the bathroom," Tommy said, as Jason, ushered them into the bathroom and out of the way of anything that could be ruined by the problems their hangover could cause. He could tell Tommy was in no mood to deal with that today and it was best that he took care of it, as he could get Tommy's mood across to them, without them actually being harmed by him. He was more nervous than he had ever seen him, but this was something that Tommy had never been through before and he knew all too well when he was nervous, his patience dwindled to an all time low.

"Can do, sir," Jason said, as Zack and Billy laughed at Tommy's look that he was sending towards Jason for calling him sir. The four of them had decided to not drink themselves into a stupor last night, knowing that they were going to have to deal with it today. Rocky and Adam, however, decided that they wanted to enjoy themselves, even if it was a little too much and they were paying for it today, much more than they had wanted to.

"Thanks, Jase," Tommy said, as he looked at the clock, hanging next to the door, and then down at his wardrobe. He was still dressed in jeans and an old, green, flannel shirt, as it was as cold as could be expected on a December day in Angel Grove.

It was only noon and Kim wasn't scheduled to walk down the aisle for another five hours and twenty minutes. They had promised they would stay away from each other all day, but he wanted to see her now. He didn't feel that he could wait any longer to see her face again, as it had been a whole day already and he couldn't help but thinking back to his first day apart from her when he went to get his doctorate. He had not been able to concentrate and almost caused an explosion because his mind was wandering so much. He knew, deep down, that he should try to eat something, to calm his nerves, but nothing sounded good to him, even the pizza Jason had brought in a few minutes ago.

"You look like the one who might need to stay in the bathroom. You feeling alright, Tommy?" Zack asked, placing a hand on Tommy's shoulder, as he looked helplessly over at Zack. He looked like he was about to ask Kim to go out with him all over again and the only reason he had not thrown up then was that he didn't want to scare her away. He had been prepared to have to deal with this, but he had thought that it would calm down some after he got to the church and settled in with his groomsmen. It hadn't and all of them were now picking up on it, which was something he did not want to have happen. They would try to relieve the stress, but only a few of them knew that the only cure would be seeing Kim walking down the aisle, in whatever dress she had bought. "I haven't seen you look this nervous since you first asked her out."

"It's because I am that nervous. I've been waiting for this day for a long time," Tommy said, as he began pacing around the room, with his shoes making dull thuds on the wooden floor with each step.

They had arrived at the church early, mainly to avoid seeing Kim and the bridesmaids, but now Tommy was starting to get stir crazy, at being cooped up this long, in such a very small area. They couldn't risk him going outside, but they might have to throw him out the window if he kept this up. Unlike the girls, they were willing to take drastic measures to calm Tommy down, even if it was only for a little while.

"Maybe we should have brought the rest of the beer with us," Zack whispered to Billy as they watched Tommy, begin his work at wearing a hole in the floor. He was going to be a handful if they were not able to get him to at least sit down soon.

"Affirmative," Billy concurred as, Jason walked back out of the restroom, to see Tommy pacing around the room, with Zack and Billy backed into a corner, like two of his scared students. They were not going to try his patience today, as they knew exactly where that might land them.

But good grief, couldn't they catch a break sometime in their life? If it wasn't Mesogogg being around, Tommy would worry himself into a fit over Kim, if they did not find a way to distract him soon. Maybe they would have been better off with Mesogogg showing up in Reefside, so Tommy could use some of his nervous energy, while working for the greater good and then manage to get back in time for the wedding.

"Bro," Jason said, causing Tommy to stop pacing and face Jason, surprised at the sudden calling of his nickname, as he had not heard anyone exit the bathroom. Jason placed one hand on each shoulder, which caused Tommy to look him directly in the eyes, as he had planned to get him to do. Jason couldn't help but smile, as he caught the true nervousness was being caused by the recent lull in activity from Mesogogg's forces.

He knew that Kim was causing a lot of it, but there was the other tenth that was there because of that creature and Richard. Otherwise, he might have been thinking along the lines of throwing Tommy out the window as well. Since he knew where some of the nervousness was stemming from, he decided not to do that, right now. If Tommy continued this behavior, then he might be willing to test Tommy's temper against his own, as a true fight might be the only thing to calm him down, besides seeing Kim now.

"Yeah, Jase," Tommy said, feeling like a kid waiting to open his Christmas presents that knew that there were some good presents sitting under the tree, all for him. He could tell Jason had picked up on that and was struggling to not laugh at his giddiness. Kim, wasn't exactly a present, she was much more than that to him, which made him even more nervous and excited about this day that he had been waiting a very long time for.

"Tommy, you have to chill out. We can't deal with the hangover crew and you being a nervous, hyperactive person today," Jason said, as he noticed Tommy take in a deep breath and then release it very slowly. He knew that Tommy would try to calm down, but there was no guarantee that by the time the wedding came around that he would not be bouncing off the walls from the nerves building inside of him. "Plus you need to save some of your energy. You've got a long couple of nights to deal with."

"Jason Lee Scott," Tommy said, threateningly, as Jason turned around and headed over to his tuxedo bag.

Jason could only smile at how Tommy had taken the insinuation and he could see Billy and Zack laughing, although Tommy did not notice them. He couldn't help but say something like that to him once, as they all knew about the promise the two of them had made. If Tommy had not been so nervous, he would have surely smiled and then went after Jason, but he couldn't do that today. He knew he was no longer in control of how his emotion's played out. Jason had remembered to stash away some cards and even a DVD player in his bag, if that became necessary to distract Tommy from his thoughts and it seemed that it would now.

"Chill, alright? Why don't we play a game?" Jason asked, holding up the cards and seeing Tommy resign himself to having to wait this out and not beat him to a bloody pulp for his insinuation of what would happen later on that night. They soon were sitting on the floor, playing rummy and waiting for Adam and Rocky to recover from their hangovers.

_The Ceremony (Jason's POV) _

Tommy made it through the long wait before we could exit our room, without having an emotional breakdown. Thank goodness, and we are all ready for this wedding to start. No one ever thought that this day would come, not after their horrible break up and the eternity of a wait before their reunion, but here we are, at their wedding. Now that it is here, we are all overjoyed, knowing that this will make the two of them happier than they have been in years.

Rocky and Adam have been steadily seating the guests as they come into the church, as their hangover has subsided, and more than one hundred people have showed up, at least that is what I saw the last time I peeked out from this door. Many of the guests being member's of the other ranger teams, along with most of the original clan's parents, well except for one parent.

We had all hoped Kim's dad would show, but unless he runs up within the next few minutes, it looks like Kenny will be walking her down the aisle and that is bound to hurt Kim and Tommy, a lot. Although, they will not say anything to each other about it, until they have gotten through the ceremony and then there is no telling the amount of comforting Tommy will be doing. Kim's father loves her, but he often times just doesn't make it to things like this in time because of his new wife.

"Tommy, you doing alright?" Jason asked, as his friend stood there with a fist placed over his mouth and his other arm supporting the elbow of that arm, his eyes staring at nothing in particular, as they had a glazed look over the chocolate-brown orbs.

He was doing some serious thinking, from what Jason could tell. He knew that his mind had to be miles away from here, but there was no telling what he was thinking about and it was probably best that he couldn't read his mind today. He was sure that Kim could sum up exactly what Tommy was feeling in a few words and that was why she was marrying him; he would just get yelled at if he continued to pry.

"Yeah, I'll be alright, Jason. You better get to the back doors, they'll be ready to walk out soon," Tommy said, as he took another deep breath and prepared himself to walk to the altar with Minister Jack Abrams at his side.

The man had been his preacher, while he had lived in Angel Grove and neither one of them could think of someone else they wanted to do their wedding. He was in his early fifties and his once black hair, was starting to turn gray, as the salt was becoming more predominate than the pepper that had once thoroughly covered his head. At the rehearsal, he had been able to put the two of them at ease, which was not an easy task to accomplish, as they were almost as nervous yesterday as they were tonight. Now if he were able to duplicate that today, they would be willing to put him up for sainthood, if it was at all possible.

"Tommy, you sure you don't want a glass of water before you go out there? You look a little bit pale," Mr. Abrams said as Tommy, shook his head no, and took another deep, ragged, breath. He had seen some men who were nervous about their weddings before, but it had never been anything like this. If he hadn't known any better, he would have thought Tommy was in trouble with the law or something, but it just seemed to be a good, old-fashioned, case of the jitters.

He had managed to talk to Tommy's parents the night before and they were more than helpful as to why Tommy was this nervous, but he was shocked that he had never heard the whole story before then. The two of them had been through a lot to come to today and none of them wanted anything to cause them problems. Although the preacher got the sinking feeling that Kim's father was still missing in action, as the look from Jason, the best man, had not been good when Tommy asked about it earlier and the abscence of an answer was even worse than that look.

"I'll be fine," Tommy muttered, as he raked his fingers through his hair and felt the nervous perspiration deposit on his forehead from his sweaty palms.

"Come on, let's go," Mr. Abrams said, as he opened the door and ushered Tommy through it first.

"Alright," Tommy mumbled, as they entered the church sanctuary through the back door and walked up to the altar, solemnly looking out at the crowd of their friends and family. Tommy could feel his knees shaking, as the people looked up at him, anticipating the wedding march to begin sometime in the near future.

Tommy looked down at his wrist, on which his communicator sat, and then back up, towards the back of the church, at the closed oak doors. Alpha hadn't contacted him and he hoped it would stay that way, at least through the ceremony. Alpha had managed to finish the teleportation grid, within hours of his arrival at the new command center, and he could bring Tommy in, if they really needed his help. The other rangers were sitting on the pews, prepared to leave at a moment's notice, which he hoped he would not see them do. If they did, then he would know that his call might only be a few minutes away and he did not want to break his promise to her. He really did not want to break his promise to her.

"No time like the present, we got get going, Kim," Trini said, turning around to look at her and giving her a hug before Jason and she made their entrance, signifying that the bride would only be four people back to a very nervous Tommy. Kim and Tommy had decided that it would be most comforting for Jason to start in the back, instead of next to him, so he could give him a quick progress report, if need be. They all knew what a wreck the both of them had been and hoped that getting everything started would help calm their nerves, as seeing each other would surely do that. "Hey, it's gonna be alright. He loves you."

"Thanks Trini," Kim said, as she watched Trini join Jason and then they headed towards the old, oak doors that separated them from the sanctuary. She grabbed Kenny's arm with all of her might and felt him give hers a gentle squeeze. He was never going to let his father live down missing this day and he was quite sure that Kim felt the same way about this matter, although she had said nothing to him about it, yet.

"Little sis, promise me something," Kenny said, as there were only two couples left in front of them and each seemed to be disappearing faster than the last.

Kim looked to be trying her best to keep her composure, but she wasn't quite able to do that. Her lower lip had started trembling and he could feel her hand shaking in the crook of his elbow, but there was no way to stop the nerves inside of her. He knew that much about her and he knew the only one to calm her nerves was on the other side of this door, but he just had to get her down the aisle and to him.

"What's that?" Kim asked, looking up at Kenny, but not really seeing him. She could only think that it should be her father standing next to her, not her older brother and she shoved that thought out of her mind before it began to bother her more than anything else that could go on tonight.

"That you won't cry until you get to him. I don't know if I can drag you down the aisle," Kenny said, with a smile, as Kim gave him a hug and then faced the doors, solemnly staring at them.

It was just the two of them back there and this was her last chance if she wanted out of it, but she didn't. She would never do something that stupid again to Tommy. She took one last deep breath before they headed through the doors and her march began.

"Oh my God," Tommy whispered, as he saw Kim step through the doors and the people in the pews rise, but they were obscured from his sight as he could only focus on her. Her dress was made of ivory satin, and it had a heart shaped neckline with no straps. It continued down tightly over her ribs and waist before ivory tulle finished out the lower part of the dress and stopped, just barely touching the floor.

Tommy couldn't help but lift one hand up to cover his open mouth, as he was stunned by her beauty. Seeing her in one of his colors had always done something to him, but this was definitely the most dramatic of those occasions he had ever experienced, as he felt his eyes smart with tears ready to pour over. He took a deep breath to try to recollect himself, but he couldn't, as he let the first tears stream down his face. He could not tear his eyes away from her, as she noticed he was crying and began fighting the happy tears that were trying to escape her eyes as well. She could not look away from him, as he continued to will her to walk down the aisle to meet his open hand and heart.

"Looks like our son is in trouble," Mrs. Oliver said, as she noticed Tommy's tears streaming down his face, at the sight of his wife to be.

She had watched him grow, from that young, insecure teenage boy, who was afraid to go after her, to the man, who had found himself and knew that a life without her, would not be a fulfilling life for him. It had taken them a little while to get used to the idea of Kim and Tommy being back together, but once they were assured that she would never leave his side again, they accepted her with open arms.

She looked only a few feet down the pew and saw Mrs. Dumas, watching her daughter walk down the aisle, being escort by her son, instead of Kim's father. The look on her face was almost enough to make her shudder, but she was sure that Kim's pain was worse than what her mother was feeling right now. She noticed Tommy's fist tighten as he realized that Kim's father had not showed up yet and that he would surely be comforting her later on, but at least she did not seem very upset by all of it right now.

"He'll be fine. Let the boy cry a little, he deserves to after everything they have been through to get to this point," Mr. Oliver said, as Kim and Kenny reached the altar and waited for the preacher to speak.

He had talked to his son about this, only the night before and he had a new comprehension for why things had to be this way for them. Love can do strange things, but he saw the spark that had been missing in Tommy's eyes re-ignite, every time he looked at her during the rehearsal dinner last night. His father knew, everyone knew, Tommy was a very happy man right now, despite the tears that he was crying.

"Who gives this woman?" Mr. Abrams asked, as he watched Jason hand Tommy a handkerchief, which he was sure had been planned for Kimberly's use, but was now being used to help calm the groom instead. Their friends knew them all to well and he saw the maid of honor try to hide a laugh as Tommy took the handkerchief, wiped his eyes and then stuffed it in his jacket pocket, for Kim's use, later on during the ceremony.

"Her mother and I do," Kenny said and then gave Kim a hug before, placing her hand in Tommy's. He knew, without a doubt, that Tommy would take good care of her, he always had and the fact that he still wanted to after what she had done was even better. He then went to take a seat next to his mother, when he noticed his father and his new wife walk in through the back door and make their way to the side aisle, so they could sit with them. Several of the other guests noticed, but Kenny was truly grateful that his sister's back was to him right now. He didn't want to her to have to deal with it right now. "Mom, Dad's here."

"My goodness," Mrs. Dumas said, as Kenny gave her a look that said he would have a talk with him, after the wedding was over.

They did not need to bother Kim with announcing his presence, as she would surely come down there and chew him out herself, with Tommy only a few feet behind her, ready to rip into him if the sobs overtook her. He knew that Tommy and Kim had decided to write their own vows and he was wondering how well they would be able to get through it, as they were both very emotional already.

"I, Thomas James Oliver, am a very lucky man and I promise for the rest of my life to protect you, cherish you, and most importantly love you with all my heart," Tommy said, taking in a deep breath and looking deeper into Kim's eyes, which led to the greater part of her soul. He then smiled before he continued with the part that only certain people in the sanctuary would understand completely, those were the rangers. "I promise when we have retired from this business and it is just us, to not let you get down about what we left behind us. Nothing can take me away from you and nothing means more to me than you do. I will love you forever, no matter what comes into our life or goes out of it."

"I, Kimberly Ann Hart, promise that I will never make the mistake of letting you go again. I promise to take care of you when you are down, celebrate with you when things are great, and be a shoulder to cry when things go wrong," Kim said, as she let the tears roll down her cheeks and she braved to look away from Tommy's eyes and at his face. When she did, she saw he was crying as well, while smiling down at her, as he nodded that she could go ahead and continue, if she wasn't too choked up at the moment. "I promise when we get old and gray and have wrinkles, that I will let you relive the times that have made us who we are, as long as you let me come along with you. But most importantly I promise that I will love you and only you for the rest of my life."

"With this ring, I thee wed," Kim and Tommy said, in unison, as they slid the ringers on to each other's left ring finger. Mr. Abrams then directed them towards the unity candle that they lit together, as an old, favorite song of their wafted through the sanctuary, but they didn't really pay any attention to it. They only paid attention to each other.

"You're holding up pretty good," Tommy whispered, as he noticed Kim staring at someone past him. He dared to turn around and look and saw her father and stepmother sitting on the other side of Kenny, who looked positively, pissed about his father's late arrival. Well, at least he showed up, even if it was late, but he could still see the hurt etched on her face as he turned around to look at her. There was nothing he could say to make that go away and they both knew that, but he would be there to listen when she wanted to talk about all of it. "Well, you were."

"Thanks for being here for me Tommy. I can always depend on you," Kim whispered as she couldn't help but cry a little, at what her father had missed doing. Tommy reached out his left hand and gently wiped away the tears, with his thumb as he smiled down at her and gave her a sympathetic look. There was going to be no more crying about the bad things that had happened to them, not right now. They had the right to be happy and he was going to take that right, for the time being.

"There is no need for that, you've returned the favor more than once," Tommy said, with a smile as the song came to an end and they walked back up to altar, waiting for the preacher to allow them to kiss.

"Now that you have lit the unity candle, the final step in your dedication to each other, Mr. Oliver, you may kiss your bride," Mr. Abrams said, as Tommy looked down at Kim and felt the same nervousness he had felt the first time he had ever kissed her. He knew he was going to be starting something, back then, that would lead him to bigger and better things and the same thing would be started with this kiss as well. He reached down to place his arms around her, before he pulled her in for a long kiss. As he kissed her, he felt the whole wealth of emotions he had running through him magnify in their intensity. When he released her, he saw a happy grin playing across her lips, as she pulled herself closer to him, which did not shock an of their bridal party. They both decided to steal a glance at their parents and when they did, they saw all four of them, smiling at their children's happiness. It may have taken them a long time to realize it, but neither was any good without the other standing by their side. "Well, without further ado, I now announce, for the first time as man and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Oliver."

They began walking down the aisle, towards the doors, as the bridesmaid's and groomsmen followed. As soon as they were outside the oaken doors, Tommy picked Kim up and spun her around, as she laughed at the happiness she saw in his eyes. They had made it through the wedding, without any problems, now if they could only make it through the reception and the honeymoon, with out that familiar call coming out to them. As their friends filed out behind them, they all said their congratulations, as they were going to have to take some pictures and the photographer did not seem like he was going to be someone to goof around with, like they did with most people in the past.

"Baby, I'm sorry I missed walking you down the aisle," Mr. Hart said, rushing up to Kim and giving her a hug around the neck. Tommy could see the disguised pain that was running through Kim, as she pushed, it and the tears, aside. They both wanted to be happy, but even this day had its shortfalls for the two of them, although they knew it could have been much worse. "I'll do anything to make it up to you."

"Dad, just promise me you'll be there for everything else," Kim said, looking up at her father, as she felt Tommy's hand rest on her shoulder and he gave it a reassuring squeeze. She wanted to turn around and cry on his shoulder, but she was not going to do that today. She would save the pain for a bad day that she was bound to have somewhere down the road.

"I promise, sweetie," Mr. Hart said, as he looked over at Tommy, his daughter's husband. Tommy was not doing as good of a job at disguising the hurt that he felt about him missing the beginning of the wedding, maybe because he was absorbing some of his daughter's pain. He had seen the disappointment in her eyes when she first spotted him, but what he saw in her husband's eyes was many times worse. "Tommy, take care of my baby."

"You don't have to worry about that," Tommy said, looking down at Kim with a smile and a wink. She knew that he had picked up on everything she was feeling and would let her talk to him about it whenever she needed to. Although she could tell he was hoping that she would not choose tonight to talk about it, there were definitely other things planned, already.

"Oh, Tommy, I can't believe it," Mrs. Oliver said, as she held both sides of Tommy's face in her hands and then gave him a hug. Kim gave Mrs. Oliver a smile, as she released Tommy and worked her way over to her. "Kim, we've been through it, haven't we sweetheart? I always knew you were the one he'd marry, if you'd let him."

"Mrs. Oliver," Kim said, as she gave her a hug and the two male Oliver's watched their wives with smiles on their faces. They knew that they loved both of the women, more than anything else in the world and that was something that they had learned, from each other, was the most important thing about any relationship.

"Ahem, before you turn on the waterworks, let's get these pictures done," the photographer announced and they looked around at each other. They might as well get it over with, as this was bound to take them much longer than they would like.

_The Reception _

"Did you see Dr. O cry like a baby? Man, we're never going to let him live that down," Conner said, as Kira gave him a sharp look and Ethan could only stare at him with wide eyes. Neither of them would dare to make fun of Dr. O about that, as he was not likely to even let them bring it up. He had wanted them at the wedding, but if Conner was going to act like this, then they would have to take things into their own hands and Dr. O would surely wonder why they were hitting him as often as they were if he kept this up.

"Conner, the man has the right to cry. They've been through hell just to get to this day," Trent said, as Tommy and Kim entered the reception hall. They were having a dinner for all of them, as they knew that they were going to be starved by the time they got to the reception, especially considering how their stomachs were when they had been nervous for a long period of time.

"Kim, I didn't get a chance to talk to you before the photographer got us, but I'm so proud of you. Sweetie, I know that you will be happy with him," Mrs. Dumas said, as Kim looked at her mother with a bright smile. She looked over at Tommy, while still holding her baby girl in his arms and was happy they had found happiness with each other. "And Tommy, I know she's put you through it, but you have proved yourself, take care of her and keep her safe."

"Thank you and I'll try," Tommy said, as his father walked up to the two of them, holding a bottle of water for each of them. He knew that they were both more stressed than usual and could use a little drink of something non-alcoholic.

"Son, ya done good," Mr. Oliver said, as he gave Tommy a hug. He remembered the days when Tommy could barely function, but they had somehow met back up, although they had never told them the full story about that one. There were quite a few things in Tommy's life that could not be explained, but they had learned to deal with it, as he had never caused any trouble, that they knew of. "And you, little lady, keep him out of trouble."

"Yes, sir," Kim said, as Mr. Oliver picked her up and gave her a tight hug, which caused her to squeal and Tommy to laugh at her reaction. His father had always been like this at weddings and it was no surprise that he was like this at his own son's. "We better go sit down or Jason is likely to start without us."

"Yes, he is likely to do that," Tommy said, taking her hand and leading her to the head table, stopping every once in awhile to talk to someone.

When they were seated, he heard his communicator go off and he sighed as, he looked at it and then over at Kim who had taken her time looking over at him, knowing exactly what it was. She had surely heard it, but she gave him a smile and then looked out to find the other rangers. She saw the four of them, heading towards the door and into the lobby, to answer the call. Tommy then took off his communicator and placed it on Kim's wrist. If it was important enough, Alpha would call back and she could choose if he was going to answer the call.

"Tommy, what are you doing?" Kim asked, as she looked at his communicator, settled on her wrist. It fit loosely compared to all of the other communicators she had ever called her own, but something seemed to be happening, although she could not tell what it was by just looking at the communicator.

"Keeping myself at this wedding, like I promised I would," Tommy said, as Jason stood up and seemed to be ready to give his speech. Neither knew what he had in store for them, but there were surely going to be some parts that would be embarrassing to the both of them.

"Hey, everybody. I'm the best man, as you can see, but I need to warn you that I don't have the best public speaking skills in the world, so bear with me," Jason said, pulling out a sheet of paper from his jacket pocket and placing it on the small podium, before looking out at everyone in the room. He had run the speech by Trini yesterday afternoon and she had loved it, but he could only hope that his friends would feel the same. "Here it goes. Kim and Tommy are two of my best friends in the world and if you don't know the story of their courtship, I think you need to know about it. It started when we were in high school, Tommy and I were in a karate competition against each other, I don't even remember who won now, but we all knew a certain someone intrigued our little Kimberly here. Tommy went through a rough spell there for awhile, but when he got over it, he asked her out. Well, it was more like Zack told him that he was going to ask her out, as we all knew how he felt about her and vice versa. You would think by looking at them now that it was happily ever after, after that moment when she agreed to go out on a date. It wasn't, Kim went to Florida to pursue her gymnastics career and so did Tommy's heart, which did not take things too well. Well they broke up for awhile there and by the grace of God they got back together, two years ago, when she came back to Angel Grove for a visit. That visit turned into her moving back to the west coast and I only wish the two of them the best in their new journey and I hope that they will be able to live happily ever after, to Kim and Tommy, it's been a great."

"Jason, you did a good job," Kim said, as Tommy's communicator sounded again and she jerked her head down to look at it, as Jason and Tommy peered at it as well. It had been silver and black when she first put in on, but now it fit and it was silver and pink, although she didn't notice that, but Jason did. When did she get a communicator? He couldn't help but wonder if they were holding out about another dino gem showing up, but they wouldn't do that. He knew them too well for that to happen. "Alpha can just forget it, I'm not answering tonight."

"Alpha, what's going on?" Conner asked, as they moved into a quiet corner of the lobby. The other rangers were gathered around, straining to hear what the robot had to say to them. Although there were many groups of rangers there, they still could not risk being discovered by anyone, as some people were not rangers in the crowd and they could not risk being shown to them.

"There's another dino gem that has appeared in Reefside, I need you to get the gem and bring it to me before Mesogogg gets his claws on it," Alpha said, as he punched in the coordinates of the gem into the teleportation grid. "I'm teleporting you to the site of the power burst. Be careful, Mesogogg's goons may already be on site and don't call for back up, unless you absolutely need it."

"Don't worry, we'll get it Alpha," Conner said and they were teleported to the forest outside of Reefside and began their search for the new dino gem.

"Kim, what would be the harm in answering?" Jason asked, as it went off again and he watched Tommy reach for her wrist and then pull his hand away. He knew how tempting it was for Tommy to answer the call, but it seemed that Kim had resolved herself to not answer the call and he was fine with that.

"Him leaving, is the harm in answering," Kim said and then looked over at Tommy's wrist. How had he gotten his communicator back? "How'd you do that?"

"Do what?" Tommy asked, as Kim pointed to his wrist and he looked to see that his communicator was situated in its normal position. "Let's not worry about that now, I'm sure Alpha will have some explanation for it later."

"Hey, Mrs. Oliver, you mind telling us where your darling hubby is taking you to for a week?" Ally asked, as she peered down the table towards them. They had finished their meal and where waiting for the first dance number to start and for Tommy and Kim to go to the floor, but until then they had sometime to make some small talk.

"I wish I knew, Ally. All he said was pack warm clothes," Kim said, as a few of the guys looked at Tommy, with a question in their eyes. Where could he be taking her?

"Now, if Mr. and Mrs. Oliver, would be so kind as to step on the dance floor, so we can really start to have some fun," Mr. Oliver said, as he stepped up to the microphone. He knew how much his son hated to dance, but he would entertain Kim, knowing how much it meant to her.

_Reefside's Mission _

"Alpha, I don't see a dino gem around here anywhere. Actually I can't see much of anything," Conner said, as they stumbled through the dark woods straining their eyes to get a glimpse of the new dino gem's form.

"Conner, you're close to it. Just trust me and keep on looking, it's a pink gem. It should stand out on that terrain," Alpha said, as Kira stumbled over a limb and fell onto her face, but thank goodness, their suits protected them from most injuries. They had all taken a few falls, but they had yet to see a spark of light from anywhere close to them. Trent had now grabbed a hold of Kira's arm to prevent her from falling again, as she had taken it the worst out of the four of them.

"You okay?" Trent asked, as he helped Kira up and concentrated his gaze on looking for a pink source of light. Why couldn't they find it? Alpha had made it seem like it was going to be obvious or what if Mesogogg had already gotten to the dino gem?

"Guys, over here, I think I've found it!" Ethan yelled as he noticed a pink ray of light shoot up from a small hallow in the ground. He was now running to get to the ray of light and when he did; he saw a small gem and quickly picked it up. It felt like fire in his hands, but he knew that he needed to get out of there as quickly as possible. If Mesogogg had been waiting for them to do the dirty work and then he just come in a sweep the gem away, they were not going to give him the chance.

"Alpha, get us out of here before some creep shows up," Kira said and they soon found themselves standing in the command center. "Who's going to take this gem?"

"I'll talk to you about it when Kim and Tommy get back from their honeymoon. Don't talk to them about it, there is no use to worry them about it tonight," Alpha said, as he took the gem and stored it away, into a morpher for the new pink ranger. "Now, go ahead and get back to the wedding and tell them that everything is alright."

"Alpha, are you sure we should keep this from them?" Ethan asked, as the robot looked at him with a critical gaze. If they told them, then they would come back to find someone to fill the position, but Alpha already knew who the gem belonged to and it would be best to wait until they got back, as it would definitely distract them. They deserved a little break from all of this and their honeymoon would give them that.

"Yes, now go," Alpha said, as he teleported them back to the wedding reception. They arrived in time to see that Kim and Tommy were getting ready to leave for their honeymoon. They knew Alpha was right, what was the need to worry them when they were about to go on their honeymoon and have a wonderful time.

"Everything alright?" Jason asked, walking up behind the four rangers and catching Trent's arm placed around Kira.

He wondered if Kim and Tommy knew about that relationship, as it seemed to be pretty new among them. He knew that Kim and Tommy had hoped they would get back before the reception was over, but he was not going to call them back from heading to the car to leave. There was no need in that unless something bad had happened and they looked relatively unharmed, although Kira looked to be a tiny bit fatigued.

"Yeah, just had a new dino gem show up," Conner said, as the other three groaned at what he said. Why couldn't he remember some of the simple rules that had been in acted on them?

"Jason, you can't tell them," Kira said, as she jerked her head towards Conner and glared at him. "We were supposed to keep it a secret."

"That explains something," Jason said, as he remembered the change in Tommy's communicator on Kim's wrist. Alpha must have found the gem around that time and it signified one thing, Kim would be going back into action once they got back from their honeymoon and he did not like that at all. Well, now all they needed was a monster show up on their honeymoon and everything would be normal for the two of them. "Your secret is safe with me."

**AN:** Thank you to everyone that has read and I hope that you have enjoyed the wedding chapter! You know what is coming next, so the faster you review, the faster it will be out. Until next time, happy reading!


	18. The Honeymoon

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**TrueRomantic:** Yeah it is, exactly. I would not do that and I know about those other stories that do that to them, I just can't. Alright, I'll try.

**Daisyz:** I didn't mean to make you cry, but I'm glad that you liked it anyway.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thanks for the review and I'll try to get this update out soon.

**Daniaryezel:** Yeah, thanks for liking that detail, I wasn't even sure if anyone would really notice it.

**XRachX:** I know it was predictable, but it kinda needed to be, as some other things will not be or then again they very well may be for some people. Well, you'll see why the sooner, the better as it goes on. I'm glad that you think so. Thanks for the review!

**mj08:** Hey little one and thanks for the review, you have no clue how much it means for you just to write down a few words of encouragement.

Now, on with the Story!

_A Honeymoon in Italy _

"Can you tell me where we are going now, Tommy?" Kim asked, as they entered the airport, bags in tow. Tommy had been dodging the question for the past few weeks and now she was hoping that he would answer the question, as they quickly headed towards terminal ten and their flight out of here, to wherever he had them headed.

"You'll find out when we're on the plane," Tommy said, as she looked up at him, as if she was ready to start pouting, but then stopped at the smile he was giving her. She would love going to Italy, but the main thing he wanted to do the most was surprise her and in order to do that, he had to get her on the plane without her looking at the tickets, which were stowed away in his pants pocket. He knew that she would have to be feeling very brave to reach and get those tickets, in public and if she did that, he would let her find out about where they were going before he got her on the plane. He knew enough about himself to know he would be rendered defenseless if she did something so out of character. "I promise that you'll like it."

"Come on, please," Kim said as he shook his head no and she then sighed. He was determined that this be a surprise and she couldn't find a way to get him to tell her.

"Excuse me, will you put all of your metal belongings in this tray?" A man asked, as Tommy emptied his pockets and begrudgingly took his communicator off of his wrist, while Kim did the same thing. They then passed through the scanner without a problem and sent their baggage off to be put on the plane, with Tommy carrying their carry on bag over one shoulder and holding her hand with the other free arm.

He felt the cold silver of the communicator brushing up against his bare wrist and smiled as he thought back to the last time that she had worn one of those, when their friends brought them back together. It just seemed like everything was exactly how it was supposed to be, even down to the ranger bond they had felt between each other, which had come back, surprisingly, over the last few hours. That bond, however, could be broken as they powers came and went, but they did not plan to let their love have that problem arise.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time," Tommy said, as Kim looked up at him, wondering which part of the day he had been looking forward to more, the wedding, or the honeymoon. He would have never come out and said that he had been craving having sex with her, but she wouldn't have either and it was best that they just kept it that way, as that was one subject that they rarely talked about without having to walk away and leave each other alone for a little while.

"So have I," Kim said, as they walked up the boarding ramp and onto the awaiting plane. She was concentrating on not letting the overwhelming sense of tiredness overtake her, as she had barely gotten a full nights sleep over the last week, but he seemed to have his thoughts drifting to other places.

Tommy looked down to see that his communicator was glowing a weird shade of the faintest pink he had ever seen and then looked over at Kim's, it had a dim shade of gray covering the surface of her stone as well. Hold it, did he just say that she had her own communicator? When had that happened? Maybe Alpha had just thought it best for both of them to have one, now that things were sure to get hectic, but he had to ask Alpha about all of this when they got back from their honeymoon, as it surely was odd for it to appear the way it did, not that he had fully comprehended it until now. It just seemed as if she was supposed to have one of those, no matter what was going on or if she actually had powers.

"Non-stop flight from Los Angeles to New York, New York to Venice, Italy," the pilot said over the speaker as Kim let out a gasp and then looked over at Tommy, as she saw the love in his eyes and the happiness in his heart for being able to get this reaction out of her.

How could he remember that was the one place in the world that she had always wanted to see? She had not mentioned that place since they were in high school and she had been willing to settle for just a nice little weekend on the coast, which was what she expected from him, until he told her how to pack, that threw her for a loop and made it even less obvious where they were going, as she had not been able to pull any particular place out of her mind.

"Surprise," Tommy whispered, as she gave him a happy hug that drew the attention of some of the other passengers on the plane. She was doing everything within her power to not squeal with joy, but she could not keep one delighted laugh from escaping her lips, as Tommy's arms returned the embrace, without a moment's hesitation.

"Tommy, I can't believe you remembered this," Kim said, letting go of him and looking at him, as she cupped his face in her hands. He could see the pure joy that was written across her face and was glad that he had dug up that old note at his parents' house a few months ago. Before then, he hadn't been sure what he was going to do, that was the main reason he went back to search through his old room. That was when he found the box of old letters between the two of them and after reading about fifteen, he found the one that mentioned her wanting to visit Venice sometime in her life and he just went with it, hoping she still felt the same about the place. "You must have paid attention more in high school than I thought."

"Kim, I always paid attention where you came in, you know that. I got in trouble so many times for that," Tommy said, as he settled in for the long flight to Italy. Within a few hours, Kim had snuggled up against him, falling into a heavy sleep, which gave him sometime to think about everything that had happened since school had started that year.

She had been so patient with him, through all of it. Finding the new rangers, getting his powers back, even the thing with Richard, and he couldn't have asked for any more out of her. The nights where he had come home bruised and battered, she stood there with the familiar ice pack and towel, to let him talk about the battles, the things that went wrong, and the improvements that could be made to the team and their equipment.

She had not gone out into battle as much as she would have liked to, due to the fact she was almost killed in one of the battles and after that, the only reason she battled was because she was there when a battle began. Tommy was not willing to let her go out there from home, unless she got powers, somehow and she had accepted that, after a few bad days, in which they fought over it. He just wanted her to be kept safe, even if they both knew that it might not be possible, no mattered how hard he tried to keep it that way.

She knew that he felt it would be his fault if something happened to her, after that night and after they had finally stopped the yelling and listened to what each other had to say. Zeltrax had managed to get her alone that night and knocked her out cold. Well, they hadn't seen Zeltrax since that battle, as Tommy had not showed any restraint in fighting him after he saw what he had done to Kim. To say that they had, had some rocky times was understandable, but they actually were getting along with this a lot better than could be expected, especially with Alpha helping them again.

"Would you like anything to drink, sir?" A flight attendant asked, as she noticed Tommy was still awake, although he did look content enough, with the pretty, little lady asleep on his chest.

She had noticed them when they first boarded the plane and they didn't seem like the typical honeymooners', but she had seen how wrong she was. It didn't matter that every flight attendant was more than willing to try to test his true feelings, she would not let that happen. The man was married and she knew that meant he was off limits and would possibly tell some of them that if they were brave enough to try to hit on him.

"No ma'am, thank you, though," Tommy whispered, as he felt Kim move and then she looked up at him for a sleepy second before, snuggling closer to him and going back to sleep. They may have lived in the same house for the last few months, but they both had been waiting until after their wedding to do some things and were happy with each other as they were. Tommy took a deep breath, taking in her scent, before settling his chin on top of her head and nodding off to sleep as well.

"We are now landing in Venice, Italy, please fasten your seat belts," the pilot said over the intercom, as Tommy shook himself out of his sleep and noticed Kim was looking up at him. She had obviously been awake for a few minutes and seemed to be enjoying the sight of watching him sleep.

"You enjoying yourself?" Tommy asked, sleepily as he felt Kim buckle him in, as he had made no move to do so yet.

"As long as I'm with you, I'm happy," Kim said, as she felt some anxiousness building up inside of her, knowing that they were really in Italy and that their honeymoon had officially started, even if he might have considered it starting the moment they got to the airport. "Where are we heading to first?"

"Where do you think, Kim?" Tommy asked, as she blushed and looked up at him, with a shy smile, one that was rarely displayed on her face. They had waited so long for this day, but it still seemed too good to be true, in some aspects. "Unless you have any other ideas in mind."

"No that sounds good," Kim said, as they felt the plane touch down and they looked out the window and then back at each other. This was sure going to be an interesting six days, as they wanted to get back to the states in time for Christmas with their families and a tiny vacation from the school year called hell. Neither had, had a year this bad in their teaching experience. It was not that the kids were bad; it was just that their administration was horrific and the fact that they had a ranger team working at their house didn't make it any better. "Do you happen to speak any Italian, Tommy?"

"No, but I don't think we'll need to, at least I hope we won't," Tommy said with a smile, as she laughed at the thought. They were now in another country, didn't know anyone and couldn't communicate with them, what more could they want? They had never been this alone, together, in their lives and they planned on enjoying every second of it.

"You know, if anyone else said that, I would be worried, but you don't worry me, for some reason," Kim said, as he knew that he could stop her worries with one look, but him being a few minutes late from work could worry her to no end.

After all the times he had been captured, she had gotten this innate sense of when trouble was brewing and often times would stop him from doing something, on her feelings about it. More than once he had been glad about it, as he would find out that there had been another attempt planned on his life or just some plan to lure her into another battle, to try and get him back.

"After everything, I would think you would worry more when I said something like that than when anyone else did. Sometimes things just don't go good," Tommy said, as they stood to head off the plane and down the terminal to the luggage claim and out of the airport, to their hotel.

"Sure, Tommy, let's just get our bags and get to the hotel, then we'll talk about whose worried," Kim said, as she saw Tommy gulp and couldn't help but shake her head. The poor boy was so worried about all of this, but she didn't care how everything else went that night, they were married now and that was all that mattered to her. "Hey, what happened to that old leader spirit?"

"It got married," Tommy said, as Kim stifled back a laugh for a few seconds before she couldn't hold it back anymore and Tommy couldn't help but smile at her happiness, as he picked up their bags and headed towards the front doors.

"I didn't know that I could diminish it that quickly," Kim said, as he couldn't help but laugh about all of it. Even their 'fearless' leader had something to fear, although he couldn't tell many of them that without them looking at him as if he had lost his mind. Him fearing Kim just seemed absurd to all of them. "Ha, I finally got you to laugh!"

"Come on, let's go," Tommy said, as she tried to take a bag from him, but he held on firmly to the handle and continued towards the doors. They soon arrived at the little hotel, which had a total of ten rooms, although those rooms took up a whole floor. Tommy wanted them to feel like it was their home away from home for a week, even if it was a tiny bit pricier than expected.

"My dear goodness," Kim said, as she looked around the room, automatically noticing the bathroom and the bedroom. Tommy had taken a great deal of care to get a place that she would enjoy, as she looked around at the pale-honey colored walls and the fabrics on the bed. She turned around to look at him and saw that he was enjoying watching her reaction to the place he had picked for them. "You shouldn't have done this Tommy, it's just too much."

"Nothing is too much for you. You should know that by now," Tommy said, giving her a kiss, after dropping the bags on the floor.

He felt his mind being swept away by the emotions that were running through him, as he knew how many times before he had stopped himself from taking things too far, out of respect for what she wanted to do with her life. As he walked them over to the bed, he felt her pulling at his clothes and he released her from the kiss and looked down at her. He was more nervous about how she would react than anything else he could ever remember, as his nervous jitters of before the wedding were furthest from his mind right then.

"Tommy, you have nothing to worry about," Kim whispered, as she could tell from the look in his eyes what he was thinking. She did not want to bring out the fact that she was the one that really had the right to be nervous, as he had done a striptease for her, his first night back from that island, although she wasn't even sure he remembered that now. He merely shook his head and then took her to bed.

_Day Two _

"Are we going to get out of bed today?" Tommy asked, as Kim looked over at him and shrugged. He gave her a happy smile, as he brushed one of his hands over her face before, feeling her settle her head on his shoulder. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do, but if he wanted to stay in bed, she was fine with that, although she did want some breakfast. Her stomach definitely did not like this time change.

"Whatever you want, I'm content to do nothing today, as long as I can get something to eat," Kim said, as Tommy laughed and picked her up off his shoulder as gently as possible. So he could get out of the bed and pad towards the bathroom, to shave and wash up. Kim soon was following him, although she had found a robe to put on, for the time being.

"How come you were able to find one of those?" Tommy asked, as he looked at her in a robe. He had yet to put on any clothing and he did not see any towels that where bigger than a dishrag lying out in the open. What did these people expect them to dry off with, when they took a shower?

"I brought this, Tommy, I just figured that we weren't going to dress for awhile some days," Kim said, as he became slightly embarrassed. He still was not completely comfortable in front of her like this, but she sensed that and quickly held out another robe, she had hidden behind her back. She knew how forgetful he was, so she had decided to buy him one and bring it, just in case he reacted like he was right now.

"Thanks," Tommy said, although he did not stop shaving to put the garment on. What would be the harm in a few more minutes like this, before he put on some clothes? Kim didn't seem uncomfortable, that was all that mattered, as his own discomfort was beginning to diminish. "Now, what do you want to do today?"

"Find some little place to eat and then go see some of the sights," Kim said, as Tommy washed off his face and splashed on a little after shave. She inhaled the scent and felt herself get lost in it for a few seconds, before he gave her a kiss on the cheek, which brought her back into reality. He had slipped on the dark green robe and was walking back towards their room, to find some clothes and a map he had stashed in there, somewhere.

"Take your time, we've got all day," Tommy said, as he had the feeling she would want to take a shower or a bath this morning, as she had not taken off her make-up last night. He was fine, but he was sure he could find something to do until she was done with everything she had to do.

"Crap," Kim said, as she saw blood smeared on her thighs and then headed back out to grab some tampons. It was not supposed to be her time of month, but some times things got out of whack for her. She had just been hoping this wasn't going to be one of those weeks.

"You can't be done," Tommy said, as he had donned his glasses and was reading a book in the recliner. Kim looked positively pissed, but what could happen to make her attitude change so quickly? She had decided to lose the robe and was now digging around in her suitcase, for something.

"No, it's just that time of month," Kim said, as Tommy looked sympathetically over at her, but then he thought of something. If they had both been virgins, couldn't it just be blood from last night and not her period?

"Are you sure about that?" Tommy asked, as she walked back towards him, having found a box of tampons and was now clutching them in her grasps. "I mean, couldn't it be caused by something else?"

"Like what Tommy?" Kim asked, wondering if he was going to go 'nutty professor' on her, for once in their relationship.

"Us," Tommy said, simply, as he could tell that was the first time she had thought about it like that and she then tossed the box of feminine products back towards her open suitcase, but they happened to land in his instead, but it didn't matter. She would fix it in a little while. "Well, I take that as a yes."

"Shut up, Tommy," Kim said, as she closed the bathroom door and he smiled at all of it. He couldn't help but think that if their friends had not been so insistent on them talking, a few years ago, he wouldn't be here right now, enjoying everything that he was. After a little while, she emerged from the bathroom, her hair hanging on her shoulders, which caused Tommy to stare at her. Sure he had seen her like this before school some mornings, but he had never gotten the overwhelming feeling of desire that ran through him now. "Whoa, tiger, what's gotten into you?"

"You have," Tommy said, giving her a kiss on the cheek and then began working his way towards her mouth. God, they may never leave this hotel room, if they didn't stop soon, but neither seemed to want to stop. "What's with the new nickname?"

"I don't know," Kim said, as he had brought out the one odd thing she had said. "I know it's been a long time since you've been a tiger, but you sure have been acting like it."

"Funny you should bring that up now," Tommy said, as he reached down to grab her wrist and pulled it up in between their faces. She looked at it in shock, having not truly noticed the communicator that she had been wearing, although she had noticed Tommy had gotten his back. "You haven't worn one of these in quite awhile either."

"We'll just have to wait to talk to Alpha about it Tommy," Kim said, as she leaned forward to kiss him and she carefully reached for the tie of his robe. "I think that we're going to be staying in today, don't you?"

"Maybe," Tommy said, with a hint of playfulness in his eyes as he picked her up and spun her around before deciding whether they wanted to go to bed at the time. "I'm glad that we will be able to enjoy this."

"So am I, Tommy. So am I," Kim said, before hastily pulling him towards the bed.

AN: I know that this is a very short chapter for this story, but I did not want to go into graphic details, I see no need in that. Also, I know that the flight attendant description was stereotypical and I mean no insult to anyone in that profession. I am sure that there are many people who are fully qualified in that area, but I felt I needed to bring in something like that. I hope that you have enjoyed it and feel free to review, either way. Until next time, happy reading!


	19. A Little Bit of Christmas

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**XRachX:** Yeah, I get what you mean. Nope I didn't, I don't really understand the whole flame thing anyway, so don't worry, I took it as a comment. Thanks for the review!

Now, on with the Story!

_Coming Back Home _

_Kim's POV_

We arrived back home late last night, after a five-hour delay in New York, due to a blizzard that had hit the northeastern part of the states, just this morning, which is just our normal luck. I hate those things, but despite the delay, it was one of the best vacations I have had in years, all thanks to my new husband. It's still hard to remember to call him that some times, but I love every time the I get the opportunity to do just that. The man has done so much for me, more than I will ever be able to thank him for or that he will even know about, but I am trying to slowly repay him for everything he has done for me, even if he doesn't want me to.

"Mornin' Handsome," Kim said, as she rolled over to see Tommy intently watching her sleep, looking to be wide awake himself and found it odd that he had woken up on his own this early in the morning. He usually struggled with the idea of waking up, but over the last few days he had been able to wake himself up on his own. He still had his arms wrapped firmly around her waist, as he had left them the night before, not having willed himself to let go of her yet. "You sleep good?"

"Yeah, but I have to go into the dojo today. My advanced class has not had a class in over a week and I promised we'd meet today, just for some light sparring. I don't know why I did that," Tommy said, now rather disgruntled at the promise he had made to them before Christmas break had started.

He knew he needed to hit the gym hard, after a week of no sparring, but he had refused to leave their home until Kim woke up, even if it did make him late for class, which was something that they were accustomed to after the years that he had been around. He had tried to break the habit, but most of the people that loved him, just dealt with the fact that he was late to almost everything.

"You want me to come with you? I wouldn't mind helping you, if you need it," Kim said, as he smiled at her and then gave her a kiss on the forehead before attempting to get out of bed and change.

Kim soon followed his lead, as she attempted to find a pair of baggy sweats and a T-shirt, but came up empty handed after a short search. Those clothing styles were not in her wardrobe vocabulary, as she usually worked out in leotards and jazz pants, if it was a cold day and even that did not protect her much. Unlike Tommy's normal karate gi, which was a little bit bulkier and a heck of a lot warmer during the winter months.

"Here's an old pair of karate pants that I shrunk in the wash years ago. They'll probably still be big on you, but I don't think too many people will notice it at this time of morning," Tommy said, as Kim looked down at the pants he had tossed over to her. Then she looked over at him, knowing he didn't realize how many times she had seen him wear those over the years they had known each other. Which made her pretty sure that they had not been shrunk in the wash, but that he had gained some weight, which did not suit him in a bad way in the slightest, as she would not have noticed if she had not seen the extra muscle he had chiseled into his body a few years ago. It wasn't that he was flabby before hand, but during that mission together, she found out that the years of karate had built a rock solid body under the clothes that he wore to hide that fact. "What are you looking at?"

"You," Kim said, pulling off the red nightgown she had slept in and slipping on Tommy's old, comfortable, pants. They were a little bit too big, but thank goodness, they had a drawstring or they would have fallen off of her, as they were already gathering at the floor from her lack of height, although Tommy had only about average height for most of the men that she knew and took the time to notice that about them. Of course, it didn't help that almost anyone would seem tall to her, as she was shorter than most people and many of her friends took every oppurtunity to remind her of that. "How good are these kids, Tommy?"

"I'll pair you up with Charlie for awhile, he'll take it easy on you, and then you and me can spar some. The class oughta enjoy that one," Tommy said, as he picked up the keys to his jeep and checking to make sure his communicator was settled on his wrist, they then made their way towards the front door and his jeep.

_The Dojo_

"Hey, Dr. O, you doing alright?" Charlie asked, as Tommy walked into the dojo, with Kim only a few steps behind him, sipping on a cup of hot coffee.

"I'm good Charlie," Tommy said with a smile as he placed his bag on one of the benches and then took a glance around the room, to see that Charlie was the only student there. Rocky had been the one to open up this morning, but he knew that he was heading over to Ally's soon after that, so where were the other students? It surely couldn't be just him and Charlie, as the other students had to be dying to get some practice in, especially if they had been dealing with Rocky for a full week. "Where's everybody else?"

"I think they're back in the locker room. You want to go check on them?" Charlie asked, ushering them towards the locker room and then turning to see Ashley running up behind him, carrying the present the class had made for them. They had hoped they would have been able to give it to them before their wedding, but they needed Rocky's help with it and it was hard to get his help without Tommy becoming suspicious, so they had to wait until after the wedding to do most of the work. "About time you showed up."

"Sorry, Charlie. It took me a little while to get all of it together, I didn't exactly get to sleep early last night," Ashley said, as Tommy switched on the lights in the locker room and the students jumped out it surprise, which caused Kim to jump closer to him, but she somehow managed to not spill the coffee on either of them.

"You have got to be kidding me," Tommy said, as he had not expected them to do anything for the two of them. They were just their teachers, not really anything else, even the rangers hadn't done anything, not that they had expected it, from anyone, even their friends. Them getting married was enough of a present and with as much help as their friends had, had in the situation, it was more a present to them than anyone else. "When did you have time to do this?"

"Well, you were gone for a week Dr. O," Jackson, a tall, brown-haired boy, said, as Kim blushed at the underlying insinuation that she caught in his voice. He had always been nice to all of them, but he definitely had his mind in the gutter more often than not and they could all tell that it had landed there, once again.

"Look, we just want you to have a good time today and don't worry about teaching us, this is our gift to you," Charlie said, as Tommy smiled before giving the boy a hug.

"I'll pay you back for all of this. There's no need in it," Tommy said, as Kim laughed at the statement. She knew that he would be lucky to remember this until they got home, much less long enough to think of something to repay them with.

"If you remember it Tommy," Kim whispered as Ashley pulled the package out from behind her and waited for Tommy and Kim to notice her standing there, holding it out towards them.

"The food's enough. We don't need anything else," Tommy said, as Ashley held out the package, boy were they going to be surprised when they saw what was inside of it.

"No, we want to do this for you, trust me," Ashley said, placing the package in his hands and pushing it towards him. "Well, are you going to open it?"

"Yeah," Tommy said, looking at the large, rectangular, package, and then up at them. What in the world had they done? "What is this?"

"You'll see when we open it," Kim said, as she reached to tear at the paper and it came apart with little effort. In Tommy's hands, he now held a framed collection of pictures of them with the students, having written in the blank space available. Neither had noticed the cameras that their students had been using over the last few weeks in the dojo, which truly made it a surprise to the both of them. "Guys, you shouldn't have."

"So you like it?" Ashley asked, as they had not been sure that they would even know what it was.

"Thank you," Kim said, giving Ashley a hug and seeing her sigh with relief. "You know we don't deserve this."

"No, you deserve more," Charlie said, which caused Mrs. Oliver to tackle him in a hug, and that caused him to stumble back a few steps, as Tommy's laughter filled the room. It had been a long time since they had heard him laugh and they knew that he was really happy, once again.

_Christmas Morning _

Tommy had stayed up late the night before, wrapping the few gifts he was putting under the tree for Kim, as his old habit of last minute shopping struck up again, with even more vengeance than before. After they opened those, they were going to head to Angel Grove, to have Christmas with his parents, which would hopefully be a peaceful one this year. Kim's mom had left the day after the wedding and her dad was busy in Nevada with something, so it was just going to be the four of them. Although that happened to be a nice change from the three it had been last year, as Tommy had been forced to stay on the island to do some additional research, which he hated, even at the time.

"Mornin' Beautiful," Tommy said, rolling over to see Kim was already out of bed and obviously in the kitchen from the way that the house smelled.

He was not surprised that she had beaten him out of bed, since he had gotten to sleep at one this morning and she had been forced out of the living room at nine o'clock last night, which made him guess that she went to sleep no later than ten, as he had seen the light turn off about 9:30. He had, had to struggle to get her to leave, but once she did, he found himself enthralled in the wrapping and some other last minute things that he thought of doing.

"Merry Christmas Handsome," Kim said, as he walked into the kitchen and she passed him a cup of coffee, as he was never truly awake until he got a little bit of caffeine in his system and she did not want to have him in a bad mood on their first Christmas together in a very long time.

"Merry Christmas to you, Mrs. Oliver," Tommy said, giving her a hug as the timer on the oven went off and he looked down at her suspiciously, as she simply smiled up at him. "I thought we weren't going to eat breakfast."

"Tommy, your mom said we won't be eating until one at the earliest and I know someone who will complain if they don't eat before then," Kim said, disentangling herself from him and going to get the sausage and cheese balls out of the oven. She had several habits that she developed in Florida that she had not been able to break and this was one of them, it was a shame that more people didn't know about this breakfast treat, but as long as she could fix them, it was not a problem in her book.

"Do we have to let those cool down before we can eat them?" Tommy asked, as the aroma was certainly appealing to his senses and his now, hungry, stomach.

"Yes, Mr. I'm not hungry. Why don't we open presents and then we'll eat before we get ready to go to your parents," Kim suggested, motioning for Tommy to head towards the living room and he took a hold of one of her hands and lead her into the living room.

"Okay, but mine aren't that great, so don't get your hopes up," Tommy said, as he had done last minute shopping, as usual, but that was to always be expected from Tommy, she knew that one from the previous Christmas's they had spent together, although it had been a couple of years since they had been together on Christmas day. Last year, Christmas had been miserable for both of them, but they somehow made it through it and they were very happy about their situation this year.

"I'm just happy you remembered it was Christmas this year," Kim said, as she followed him into their living room, comfortably letting go of his hand, knowing that they would come back to each other, unlike some of the other times that she had done that. Tommy picked up the handful of gifts that had been sitting under the tree and passed her the two gifts he had bought for her and settled his own next to him on the couch. "You go first, I can wait."

"Okay," Tommy said, deciding not to fight her on this. He started with his first gift and was surprised to find a new, black, karate gi, as all of his old ones had holes, in the most unfortunate of places. Plus, when he had gotten this new color, he was now wearing a lot more black and the others just didn't appeal to him as much, although he wore them because he really didn't have any other choice about it. It was too much of a hassle to go out and buy new ones to replace the old ones and the fact that Kim did like the white karate gi's helped with the urge to change color some. "Thanks, I guess this is a hint that you're tired of seeing my boxers."

"Tommy, I see you in boxers everyday, I just don't want anyone else to see them. Now open the next one," Kim said, bouncing on the other end of the couch and he laughed at her excitement.

"What is this?" Tommy asked, as he looked at the unmarked book and then glanced over at Kim. There was absolutely no way that he was going to keep a diary and she knew that, so why did she even take the time to give him one?

"Something I got Alpha to help me with," Kim said, as he opened the book and a computer screen within it was revealed to him, so it wasn't exactly a diary, but he still did not understand what it was and what it could do for him.

"Welcome, please state the password," the book said, as Tommy peered at it before Kim supplied him with the password.

"White Knight," Kim said, as a message came up that it was in the wrong voice key. "Try it Tommy, I promise it won't bite."

"White knight," Tommy muttered and the screen immediately showed the location of all six active rangers and would locate any other ranger or monster on command. He knew that it would be useful, but he would have never even thought of something like this, not unless weird things happened. Then he would certainly have wished for one, which made him wonder if Kim knew something that he didn't. He wouldn't doubt that she knew something like that, but usually she told him within a few seconds of finding out, unless someone threatened her within an inch of her life if she was to let it out of the bag. "How long did it take you to get this?"

"Alpha finished it in a couple of weeks. He needed something to work on, so I asked him to make it," Kim said, as he could only stare at the device. It was as good as having the command center screens sitting right in front of him and it was very portable, which would help when he had to be away from the command center for a long time, as he had been when Principal Randall made him go to a workshop earlier this year. During that week, he had been called back to Reefside everyday because of a battle that was going on. If he hadn't known better he would have thought that Principal Randall knew Mesogogg personally, which would not surprise him at this point, although Alpha had not dug up anything that would suggest that, yet. "You got one more."

"You sure you don't want to open any of yours?" Tommy asked, as he looked at his two open presents and none of her open presents. He felt bad that she had not opened anything, but she was so insistent that he go ahead and open his that he was not willing to go against what she wanted.

"Yes, Tommy. Open that one," Kim insisted, scooting closer to him and watching him expectantly, as he opened his last gift.

"What is this?" Tommy asked, pulling out the very familiar white uniform and it took him a second to fully comprehend what he was holding in his hands at the moment, it was the first white ranger uniform he had ever worn and he could not believe that it was sitting there, in his grasp. He had no clue as to how she had gotten this suit, but he was more than grateful and he hoped that he could show her that. "I thought this was destroyed when I lost those powers."

"So did I, until Billy let it slip that he had discovered all of our suits under the command center a few years ago, so I went and got it," Kim said as he gave her a hug. "I couldn't wrap the helmet, so I put it downstairs. I was so worried you'd find it."

"You did good, but don't get your hopes up about my gifts being that good," Tommy said, as she smiled up at him. She didn't really care what he got her, as long as he was home for Christmas this year, he could have filled the boxes with nothing and she would have loved it.

"Which one should I start with?" Kim asked, as he shrugged his shoulder and she decided to go for the smaller package first. He had always seemed to give her things that she would not expect and not know how he could have gotten, but he somehow managed to. "Tommy…"

"Don't finish that unless it's good," Tommy said, as she stared at him and then back down at the necklace and earrings he had bought her. He knew it was a tiny bit on the expensive side, but she was sure to wear it enough that it would be worth the expense. Plus, he had been waiting for an occasion to buy the things that matched her engagement ring, for a long time and this seemed like as good of a time as any.

"It's beautiful, Tommy, but when did you have time to buy this?" Kim asked, as the expression on his face turned to a look of guilt.

"Remember when there was the emergency at the dojo, well I actually was going to pick this up, but something happening at the dojo seemed less suspicious," Tommy said, as she laughed at how far he went out of his way to cover his tracks, just so she would be surprised and that was one thing that she loved about him.

"Good one. I need to remember that for when I want to go shopping and you won't let me," Kim said, opening up the next, and what she thought would be her final, present. Upon opening the box, she found two new leotards: one pink, one black, and a pair of black jazz pants. She was sure that was it, until she saw a card buried under the clothes, which seemed odd. "This is a first, even for you."

"Just open it," Tommy said, as he was the one, who was now anxious to see the others reaction and he now understood why Kim had been bouncing up and down on the couch earlier. If he didn't think that the couch would break, he would have been tempted to do the same thing, instead he settled for closing the remaining space between them and putting his arm around her, and she automatically molded herself to his side.

"Okay," Kim said tearing at the glued seams of the envelope and pulling out a few pieces of notebook paper, folded neatly to fit inside of the small envelope.

_Beautiful,_

_Well, as I look under the Christmas tree at midnight, I notice you got me three presents and I only got you two, this year. I know we said that we wouldn't compare the numbers, as us being together was what really mattered, but I couldn't help but to feel that you got shortchanged on this part of the deal. So, I decided to tell you some things that you may not hear often enough from me in our everyday life._

_Firstly, I want to thank you for sitting on the sidelines these past few weeks, since that incident we had with Zeltrax certainly rattled us both. I don't worry about you like I would if you were out there with me, fighting unprotected. I know that it has been rough on you, watching from the command center, when you want so badly to be out there with us, fighting the good fight, but I can't risk you dying out there because of me. We both know how Mesogogg is gunning for our hearts this time, you happen to be my heart, and it seems that the whole world knows that one. They have for years, but we both knew that, deep down, even when it didn't seem that way to others. You know if another power source ever comes along, I'll offer it to you first, no questions asked. I want you to be out there with me, but I can't risk you, again, unless you are protected, someway._

_Secondly, thank you for giving me everything that you have. Some of those things happen to be even too personal for me to write without blushing, so I am sure that you can figure out what I am talking about, as you would probably be the same. Some, however, are not. You may not know some of it and then again, you may. _

_One thing I want to tell you is that you were the first girl I ever got the nerve up to kiss and you were so nice about it, as I truly feared that I had screwed up in every way that I could imagine on that kiss. Don't drop the letter, Kim. It doesn't deserve that sort of treatment and keep on reading it, too. _

_Another one is that you are the only girl in this world that it would have been worth waiting five years for you to come back to me and I am truly grateful for every moment that I have with you. You are the most precious thing in my world and you always will be, Beautiful. _

_About that nickname, I have to confess that I didn't want to wake you up that day, when you fainted from the shock of me coming back as the white ranger, you looked so peaceful and well for lack of a better choice of words, beautiful. Corny, isn't it? And to believe it actual stuck is even crazier. You also are the only girl that I have ever given a nickname that they would respond to, without looking at me like I am crazy and telling me that I should just call them by their really name. There is so much more I could tell you, but I don't know if there is enough paper in the world to hold everything that I feel for you and everything that you have so graciously given to me._

_The last thing that I want to tell you is that you never need to worry about how much I love you. I have always felt this way about you, even when I was evil and I thought that you hated me. Yeah, there were times when I wondered if I should try to stop, all those years ago, but every time I thought that, I physically got sick to my stomach. That let me know that you were always going to be it for me and there was nothing else I could do about it, even if I tried to get over loving you. _

_Then, my pride got in the way. I thought that as long as you were happy that I would be happy for you, so if he made you happy I would be fine, somehow, but that was a joke. I knew deep down I couldn't be happy for you, when I knew that I was supposed to be yours. Well, there wasn't even a he, so I guess all of Jason's and the others "she will only be yours" was really true, this time, but don't tell Jason that I said he was right. He'd hold that over my head for years to come. I guess that you can say that I love you and it's not just a little bit, you make me complete, always have, and always will. So Beautiful, Merry Christmas, and I hope that we will be able to enjoy many more together and who knows, maybe we'll even have some kids to enjoy all of this with someday._

_Love, _

_Your Handsome_

"Thank you, Tommy," Kim said, smiling over at him and giving him a hug, before he reached over to wipe the happy tears away. He hadn't known that a simple note would cause this, but she was not mad, which was a good sign, as he had not been sure how it would go over.

"Your welcome, go on and get a shower, I'll eat breakfast, then we can switch," Tommy said, as she nodded her head and headed towards the upstairs, master, bathroom.

_Lunch at the Oliver's _

"Mama," Tommy said, entering his parents' house, quietly, as Kim shut the door behind the two of them and looked around at the decorations. The Oliver's had not held back on the Christmas decorations, although they were only entertaining two people for Christmas this year.

"In the kitchen, Tommy," Mrs. Oliver said, as she heard Tommy set some presents under the tree, before they continued towards the kitchen. "Hello, Kim, how was the honeymoon?"

"Wonderful," Kim said, with a smile, as she couldn't help but think back to the days that they had spent in Venice. Yes, it truly was wonderful, even if no one else would have thought so.

"My son didn't misbehave too much, did he?" Mrs. Oliver asked, as Kim laughed at her question. "I take that as a no. Now, Tommy, you know better."

"A little taste has never hurt him before, Martha. You know we have to make sure it is all right," Mr. Oliver said, sampling some of the cake batter as well and receiving a stern look from Mrs. Oliver and a quiet giggle from Kim.

"So, have you talked with any of your friends since you got back?" Mrs. Oliver said, shaking her head at her husband's encouragement of this behavior.

"Just Jason, and he needed to know the date of the dojo's tournament," Tommy said, as he settled himself in the seat farthest away from the stove, where he was likely to do the least harm. He knew that his mother was likely to ask him to do some sort of food preparation and that was when he would suddenly find something else interesting and leave, along with his dad.

"Well, it seems he'll be the next one to pop the question or Adam, they seemed about as nervous as you were on that altar a few weeks ago," Martha said, as Tommy nodded his head in agreement. He knew all too well what the two of them had in store for their unsuspecting girlfriends.

"Jason definitely does not want to waste anymore time that he already has," Kim said, as only Tommy, Trini, and she knew how far back all of this went for him. He had admitted that he had wasted those years, but that no longer mattered. He had her now. That was all that was important to him.

"Yeah, I can remember when all of you came over here that one night, while you were still in high school. I thought the poor boy was going to go crazy when you asked him who he liked. Wouldn't you have known, it was the girl sitting right beside him and she never suspected it," Martha said, as Kim and Tommy remembered that night in another way. He had just lost his green ranger powers, for the first time and they were trying to cheer him up, but he soon got sick from the side effects. He just never seemed to catch the easy end of things and they had soon left, with Kim feeling horrible for having to leave him the way that he was.

"We didn't mean to embarrass him, but it would just seem like he would like one of the girls that were constantly flirting with him at school," Kim said, as Tommy just shook his head. He had suspected, even in high school, that Jason had a thing for Trini, but he had never been brave enough to ask about that one. Neither of them would have until they saw the aisle's worst fear for Jason. Then they knew the truth that one of their best friends, was in love and it seemed that he had been for a very long time.

"Kimberly Oliver, you know that's a lie," Tommy said, stealing another bit of batter and getting hit on the back of the hand by his mother's spoon. "Ow."

"Out, the both of you, if you keep this up there won't be a cake to eat and then you'll be mad at me," Martha said, shooing them out of the kitchen. As Tommy pouted to have to leave Kim behind, but knew that, there was no point in arguing with his mother. She was determined to save her cake no matter who that meant making mad.

"Works every time," Mr. Oliver muttered, as Tommy couldn't help but stifle back a laugh. When he was younger, his dad was responsible for helping with the food and was determined to get out of it. After several years of trying, to no avail, he figured out what got to his wife more than anything else: taking the batter out of the bowl and eating all of it. One year, there was no cake and thus they began being kicked out of the kitchen, to save the cake. No one else would have taken that and used it against his mother, but it worked and they never stopped after that Christmas, as neither of them was any good in the kitchen.

"Yes it does, but only because both of you like the cake better baked, than the batter," Martha said, as Tommy then started to laugh at how true that was.

"Alright, Martha," Mr. Oliver said, as he continued to push Tommy towards the living room.

"So that's the trick to keep them from destroying the food?" Kim asked, as Martha shook her head and watched the young girl thoughtfully nod, before she went to find an apron. "I wish that I had known about that sooner."

"You don't have to help cook this year. I did that last year to make sure that you forgot Tommy was away on that island. You were suffering last year at this time because he was away and after the damn thing blew up, gosh I thought you were going to tie him down to that recliner of his for the rest of his life," Martha said, as Kim shifted her gaze to the floor and then back up at Tommy's mother.

"Yeah, you were right about that one," Kim said, "but I couldn't tie him down, although I wanted to. We had some repairs to make to the house. I had kinda let some things get out of hand."

"I heard about those. What would be so important as to keep you up for four days without any sleep now missy?" Martha asked, as Kim stared at her with wide eyes. How could she get out of this one, without letting them know who she and their son were?

"Things," Kim said, vaguely, taking the spoon from Martha and sending her on her way to continue to work on the main dishes.

"Oh, it's one of those things," Martha said, knowledgeably, as she had heard that particular answer from Tommy a great deal since they had moved to Angel Grove, as he would have to run off to one thing or another. They had gotten suspicious over the years, as he would come home bruised and tired, but the bruises always went away soon and that kept them from questioning it. As well as the fact that his friends carried the bruises as well, although she had seen them on Kim and Tommy a few times lately, but it was probably just their work at the dojo. "The two of you must have one heck of a secret for it to cause you two to work like that."

"It's not a secret, it's a way of life. We're used to it," Kim said, as she remembered talking to Kira about the very same thing. For them, it was not a secret to be discarded to any unworthy individual, but a way of life in which the fabric of the secret wove itself into their very being. Hence, they lived, breathed, and were the Power Rangers, no matter how hard they tried to get away from it, it was what they were always going to be.

"My son really has gotten to you, hasn't he?" Martha asked, as Kim nodded her head. If she only knew how many ways, he had gotten to her, if she only knew. "Well, while that cooks, let's go watch that football game."

"Football?" Kim asked, in semi-shock. Tommy had never watched any sporting event, well most of the time. He might watch a karate competition every once in awhile, but they rarely came on and they didn't usually have the spare time for something like that, as things always came up, especially when they had just managed to get some free time.

"I know Tommy doesn't watch it often, but his father is a huge fan and we have always watched a game on Christmas Day. Tommy loves it, but I think it is enough to last him the rest of the year," Martha said, as Kim understood it a little better and noticed that Tommy was sitting on the couch, elbows on his knees, intrigued by the ball game. Kim had only seen him stare at something that long a few times before and she knew all to well what he had been staring at then.

"Thank goodness," Kim said, as she sat down on the other couch, to avoid taking away Tommy's focus on the television. "You know he doesn't stare that hard at most things."

"Yeah, we know," Mr. Oliver said, with a laugh.

"Mr. Oliver," Kim admonished, as Tommy looked over at her and then back at the television.

"No more, Mr. Oliver, Kim. It's James, has been for years and you should call me that since the two of you finally got married," James said, as Kim smiled and then Mr. Oliver turned back to watch the football game, as Tommy yelled at the television.

"How often does this happen?" Kim asked, as Tommy then sat back and she had to admit that she had never seen him like that before.

Although he had been that mad when things went wrong in the field, no it wasn't even when things went wrong, it was when people got hurt. She was the one irate when he got hurt, as his own safety did not matter to him, but he basically ignored it, as he knew he was keeping her and the others safe by being out there.

"Okay, another tradition I forgot to mention, they each bet on a team. They've done that since Tommy was about thirteen and obviously Tommy's team is losing," Martha said, as Kim thought about how much money Tommy had grabbed that morning and she knew that they already had everything for his parents, but she hoped he was not betting that much on a game.

"How much do they usually bet?" Kim asked, as Tommy threw a plastic cup at the television and Kim stared, shying away from him, as he glanced over at her looking positively irate.

"Not much, but some years it is worse than others. A few years ago, to pull Tommy's mind of some things, he decided they wouldn't bet at all. Tommy enjoyed that game more than most of the others," Martha said, as Tommy stood up and left the room, with Kim following closely behind him.

"You alright?" Kim asked, as she walked into his old room and was hit by so many old memories that it overwhelmed her, which caused her to sit down on the floor before she even took two steps into the room. When she had come last year, they had avoided anything of his, so this made it almost ten years since she had been inside this room, with him. He knew that she had been following him, only he had hoped she would not react like this.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Tommy said, with a smile, as the anger of his team being beaten so badly in the first quarter, subsided. "Nah, let's not talk about that one. There's something in here that we need to take home."

"Lunch, Tommy, Kim!" Martha yelled, as they both jumped and he went to dig out a few boxes from under his old bed.

"Coming, Mrs. Oliver!" Kim yelled, as Tommy held the box out and she carefully took it and placed it in the living room, as she was sure that they would be dealing with that later.

"Well, do we need to say the blessing before we eat," Martha said, as Tommy stopped the forkful of food that's destination was his mouth and placed it back on the plate, as Kim gave him a gentle smile before bowing her head.

"Thank you, Martha," James said, bowing his head. "Dear God, thank you for this life that you have given us and the time that we have to be together. Thank you that our son's family is able to be here in one piece, as that was nearly destroyed this summer. Thank you for your understanding and giving your Son to die for our sins. In Jesus name I pray, amen."

"Amen," Tommy softly echoed, as he squeezed Kim's hand and then looked down at his full plate of food. This brought his communicator back into sight, when he saw it, he suddenly got the sinking feeling that there was something going on that would have to be taken care of when they got back home and that she had caught on to what he was thinking as well.

AN: Thank you for reading and I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I know that I left this chapter hanging, in some ways, but it will all be explained in the next one, I promise.


	20. No One Messes With Pinkie

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**TrueRomantic:** Of course, it'll change. This story does have Tommy Oliver in it, doesn't it? Yep, you're right and you'll see all of that occur in this chapter. I'm glad that you have liked it so far and I hope that you'll enjoy the rest of it.

**XRachX:** Thanks for the review, you have no idea how much I appreciate hearing from people.

**Wicked Misty:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you've enjoyed both stories, so far.

Now, on with the Story!

No One Messes with Pinkie 

They got home, late, for the second night within a two week period, knowing that all they wanted to do was go upstairs and go to sleep for the night, but Alpha had been keeping them out of the command center for the past few days and luckily things had been quiet around Reefside. This was something they were not exactly sure what to think about, although Kim couldn't help but be happy about it as it kept Tommy from going out into dangerous situations. Tommy, however, hated the lull in activity since their wedding and had yet to ask Alpha about the mysterious communicator's permanent appearance of his counterpart's wrist, on the day of their wedding. But all of that was really not as pressing as some of the other issues he had coming to mind, like just getting into the command center in the first place.

"Tommy, we may have to break into the command center, but we have to go down there and check on some things. It's just too suspicious for Alpha to be keeping us out of there like this. He didn't even try to keep us out when we were trying to find out what they were doing to close down the command center while they were making your new powers," Kim said, as she set down her purse, which contained a gift certificate she was going to use at the soonest possible moment from Tommy's parents. They had gotten the one thing that they were sure she would use, as they knew what was in their house and they didn't need much in the sense of appliances.

She also set down the box that Tommy had gotten out of his room, having discovered on the way back home that it contained some old letters between the two of them. She had to admit that she was surprised to see what was in it, but had no doubt that he had saved it for a day when they could look back on it and smile. Instead of looking back on it and crying like they, both had on their own several times before they came to their senses.

"I know, you don't want to wait until tomorrow morning, do you?" Tommy asked, as Kim nodded her head in agreement to the question. She just had this feeling she had gained something back, as she had not told him that had happened when he had placed his communicator on her wrist. It was almost as if she became a ranger again on their wedding night and found herself lost in how her body was changing back to the way she was when she had been a ranger, but she knew that Tommy had noticed all of that, as he had been noticing her extended energy and stamina, but had yet to comment on it. They both were trying to ride it off as them being more active at the dojo, but even that wasn't holding up to their brains for a very long time, as they knew that working out in the dojo could only do so much. The rest of what was being done came only from one source, but they were not sure that they even wanted to talk about it. "Let's go."

"I yi-yi-yi-yi. What are the two of you doing down here? You're supposed to be enjoying this vacation, not working in the command center the whole time," Alpha said, as the robot blocked the path and Tommy seemed tempted to jump over him, which caused him to move out of the way without a second thought. He did not want to risk being kicked by the six-foot tall ranger, as he knew that he could sustain permanent damages from it and then his whole reasoning behind being there would be destroyed. "As you insist."

"Alpha, we just wanted to check on things down here, since it is our basement after all," Tommy said, pulling up the screen to check on the rangers and seeing six windows open, like he had that morning, only now he realized something was off. There were only supposed to be five of them that were active right now, not six, so why had he not noticed this that morning? "Alpha, who's the sixth ranger and when did you find the dino gem?"

"Tommy, let me explain before you get all riled up about this one. The two of you were about to go off to Venice and I didn't want you to come in when I knew whom the powers rightfully belonged to the entire time. I've never known of this pink ranger to turn down powers that where rightfully hers, unless she does that now," Alpha said as Tommy started shaking his head, adamantly, in denial of what Alpha was claiming was going on. There was no way she had gotten her power back without him knowing about it, although it would explain why the communicator changed on her wrist.

"Tommy," Kim said, as she could only stare at Alpha, questioningly. Why hadn't they known earlier about all of this? They would have been willing to give a day up to help him find someone to take the post, although Alpha seemed to know who it belonged to, already and did not want them to try to persuade him otherwise. It made her sad, knowing that she was not going to be a ranger, again, but she could always work in the command center, although she hated that idea with a passion that no one could believe if they knew her outside of being a ranger. Although Tommy knew exactly how she felt about her position of sitting on her butt while he was fighting on a daily basis without her having to explain it to him. "Who is it?"

"Lord Kim, it's you, sweetheart," Tommy said, as he truly thought she would faint this time, as he had not been delicate in his approach of telling her the truth about who the dino gem belonged to now. The couch stopped her fall, as she came crashing down upon it, clutching the silver and pink communicator as Tommy could only shake his head, in disbelief as he slowly walked over to her side.

Yes, he wanted her out there with him, everyone knew that, but this was not the way that he thought it would happen. He had hoped that he would have been able to find this and then give them to her, but who would have thought that it would have showed up on their wedding day. The one day, that he had promised to do nothing ranger related and he had somehow managed to keep his promise to her.

"Me? Is that why the communicator changed?" Kim asked, as she twisted her wrist out of curiosity and it turned into a morpher, which caused her to gasp. She must have done that hundreds of times without thinking about it and she could only pray it had not turned into a morpher each time she did it. Although, she was sure that Tommy would have told her the first time it happened, after they had teleported to the command center and demanded an answer from Alpha, of course.

"Yes," Alpha said, as she had seemed to recover from the shock and was now smiling, while Tommy was still letting it all sink in, rather slowly. When it finally rang true in his mind, he nearly tackled Kim with his excitement and they both couldn't help but laugh for a few seconds. Yeah, it was sure to be rough, as Ally would be picking up the lesser level classes fulltime, which she had been doing a lot as is, and the advanced girls would be living by her schedule, but they'd make it work, they always had before. Of course, this was the second time that they had had to give their classes away, but they had to do it for the rangers and the greater good and everyone involved knew that, whether or not they liked the sound of it was a different story. "When Tommy put his communicator on you, I read that there was a pink communicator missing, but I didn't understand it until I scanned Reefside. I had originally contacted you to see that everything was all right in Angel Grove, as I was worried that Mesogogg might have decided to attack there. That was when I discover it was about three miles away from here, still undetected by Mesogogg. I sent the Dino rangers to locate it and bring it to me, as the two of you were having your reception. That was when they found it and now we have new ranger on the team."

"I'm not new at this, Alpha, I've done this for years," Kim said, as her own face paled, as a sudden thought came to her mind. Now that she had powers, who was to say that Richard would not come after her with his full force and then they would both be up against a human with powers, just like them, only evil. It was much harder to think about truly taking them out, as they were human, after all, but Tommy seemed to be the one that it did not conflict with the most, as their fellow rangers did not know the full story of it all. Some rangers were sure to have a clearer picture in their minds than others, although it had to be pretty fuzzy for all of them as they had delayed telling them the whole story. "But what Zord will I have, Alpha?"

"You'll help Tommy with his Zord, as it has become a pain for him lately. Make sure you log on to the program as soon as you can, as it may not take you quickly," Alpha said, as Kim couldn't help that there were certain things that would just be best if they were shared between the two of them. Tommy was bound to be involved in a fight sometime that would not grow and she would have to take over the machine, although she didn't like the idea of not flying her own Zord, but she and Tommy could and would work as a team when they had to.

"I can't believe it. We're out there together again," Tommy said, as his hands were shaking from the nerves and excitement. He couldn't help but be happy, despite the problems that might ensue from her really going back into action. She just gave him so much comfort by staying with him. It was not that he did not trust the younger rangers; it was just that when she had his back, he felt that he did not have to worry about being ambushed without having at least a second or two warning. "I've been waiting for this day since I got my powers. Thank you Alpha and you can call us any time, you know that."

"Alpha, we've got some trouble out here," Conner's voice boomed out into the command center, as Kim and Tommy jerked their heads towards each other and then slowly looked over to the screens.

Kim gulped, as she knew the ridicule she was likely to face going back out there, mainly from Zeltrax, who probably assumed that she was still scared of him, although he was not the one that she really feared. He was just a mere inconvenience and she would take care of him, if he tried to mess with Tommy again.

"I'm sending you help, Conner," Alpha said, as he punched in the coordinates for their location.

Kim and Tommy relaxed into their normal position for teleporting, trying to block out any negative thoughts that had managed to creep into their minds. Tommy could only imagine their eyes widening, when the two of them landed there. He couldn't help but mentally prepared himself for the hell that they would be receiving from the other former rangers when they found out about this though. It was one thing when he went back into action, as he had done that more than once, but with both of them being out there, they knew that their friends were not likely to like it at all.

"Mrs. Hart, I mean Oliver?" Conner asked, looking at her with wide eyes, as she stopped a tryadrone from attacking him, but she still had not morphed. So he could not understand why Dr. O let her come back out there if she wasn't a ranger and she couldn't be who Alpha gave the pink dino gem to. It just didn't seem logical for her to get the gem, if she had been a ranger before, but of course, that was the very thing that had happened to Dr. O and it seemed like the best thing in the world.

"That's right, red, but you might want to keep it quiet," Kim said with a smile, as Tommy couldn't help but laugh at his wife's reaction to all of this. They had remained unmorphed, but it was obvious to Tommy that Conner had not taken a good look at Kim's wrist, as he would have known that she was a ranger and would not have been trying to keep anything from attacking her.

"Maybe we should have warned them," Tommy said, as they both continued to fight without having to morph. They seemed so shocked about having another ranger person out there to help them that they could barely focus on anything else and they were starting to get thrown to the ground much more than they liked it.

"Yeah, that would have been a bright idea," Kim said, as she ducked to avoid being kicked in the head by a tryadrone.

"Glad I can have at least one of them," Tommy said, with a smile, as he noticed that the fellow rangers were looking at them as if they had lost their minds. They had never fought very long without morphing and Tommy and Kim considered that a specialty of theirs, but they didn't think that it was humanly possible.

"Puddies were so much easier to take care of," Kim said, as she kicked a tryadrone, having decided to conserve her power inlet, as she knew how disposable they could be, from her last experience as a ranger. There were no power boosters for the Dino Rangers and if she was not careful, she would overexert herself in a matter of minutes.

"Puddies?" Zeltrax asked, walking up behind Kim and attempting to grab her, as she was only paying attention to the tryadrones. He had to admit that Tommy was one brave man to let his wife come back and not be a ranger, but he was no ordinary man, that much was for certain.

"Dino Thunder, power up, ha!" Kim yelled, quickly summoning her powers. She may be a protected woman now, but Zeltrax still could think that she would be easily disposed of, as he had been able to knock her out rather easily, only a little over a month ago.

"Nice trick, pinkie, too bad it won't be good enough," Zeltrax said, as Kim jumped above his head and landed on the other side. Oh, how nice it was to be back in the action, with all of the advantages that it brought to the skills that she already had instilled inside of her.

"There's a new one," Cassidy said, as she and her loyal assistant made the rounds, trying to find new stories of interest, although it was close to one o'clock in the morning.

She knew that anything that had to deal with the Power Rangers would be considered interesting and maybe even worthy of airing on the local news, if she was lucky enough to manage to get some good shots of them fighting. It seemed that it took a very skilled cameraman to get even a decent shot of the rangers and Dean was alright, but half the time his shots came out so blurry that no one could distinguish the rangers, except for the fact that their trademark colors littered the screen. He was just going to have to get better at this job or she would have to find someone else to do it.

"Get out of here, kids!" Tommy yelled, towards Cassidy and Devin, knowing they were likely to get hurt and he did not want that on his conscience, after everything else that he had experienced over the years that he had been doing this.

It had not wound up good for people that stuck around during fights and he only hoped that they did not go after them. They were students of his, no matter how annoying they were; he felt that he had to protect them even more than most other civilians, because he saw them every weekday, although Kim might argue with him on that one. The kids knew better than to be there when something like this was going on, but if they didn't listen, then they couldn't do anything to help them.

"Let them be," Kim said, looking over at him for a second and he nodded his head in recognition of hearing the statement. As she knew it could cause more suspicion as to who they truly were and that was something that they could not risk with everything else that was going on in their life. If people figured out what they were, then they might as well transport to Aquitar and go to living underwater, but hopefully it would not come to that. They had somehow managed to keep it a secret from all but two people and even they only knew by accident, but thank goodness that they were trustworthy. "They'll learn their lesson one day, if they don't get the idea that it is best for them to stay away from here by this battle."

"Oh, so the great and mighty black ranger has one person that will cause him to back down. Well let's see if she can handle this," Zeltrax said, as Richard appeared and it became obvious to them that the pink ranger could only be one person: Mrs. Oliver. They had thought that she had simply teleported in and out at the beginning of the battle, although that made no sense at all, now that they were thinking about it.

Alpha had been right to keep them out of the loop as long as he did, knowing that they would have had not honeymoon at all and they had all agreed that they deserved that break. They had not been able to get that break since school started this year and the six days that they spent away was not even sufficient in most of their minds, although they refused to stay out of the country any longer than that.

"Richard," Kim muttered, glaring at him from under her pink and white helmet and she could feel Tommy's gaze going to him as well and knew that his fists were in balls, trying to reign in the anger that was boiling up inside of him. If she had to teach him the hard way, then she would, although she did not like the feeling she was getting from looking at him. He seemed to be determined to make her pay, for everything that she had not done with him and had done with Tommy.

"Nice to see you again," Richard said, extending a hand and she shrugged it off.

She was not going to be nice to this man, not after what he had done to her mental well being all of those years ago and he could still do that now if she let him in that far, but Tommy wouldn't let her do that. He was her mental check up and he had been keeping her from closing herself down ever since Richard had showed back up on the scene. He was not going to let her shut him out, although she had tried to do that few times, in an attempt to keep things from happening to him. Each time she had done that, he had done crazy things to remind her that they really were in it together now, no matter what anyone tried to do to them.

"Which one you want? The others can take care of the tryadrones and the monster, if he sends another one," Kim said, as Richard immediately tried to grab her, but found that the black ranger's gloved hand was grabbing his wrist and jerking him away from her.

Well, that was Tommy's unsaid way of deciding who he would go up against for a little while at least. That meant that it would just be her and Zeltrax, which scared her more than she wanted to admit to anyone, although she knew Tommy had been right to take on Richard first. She shouldn't be put up against him right away, not knowing what he was capable of and Tommy had, had the powers a little bit longer and they protected him some more, as they had worked their way into his system a little bit more.

"Hey pretty girl. You know that ranger of yours, it would really hurt him for me to actually get you, but as he wishes," Zeltrax said, running towards Kim, sword at the ready and she could not think of a weapon that would protect her from him.

Then, she suddenly knew what he was going to do next and jumped out of the way, as the sword came crashing down on a table that was behind her. Funny, it seemed that her special power was to be able to feel out what everyone else was doing and thinking, which did have some pluses. She just could not help but wonder why this had been the particular power that she would get, instead of Kira or maybe even Ethan.

She could feel what Tommy and Richard were doing to each other, as well as the others in their own battles. Hopefully, this, did not even so much as go anywhere outside of her ranger suit, as she did not want to feel Tommy's emotions all of the time. If it did, then she was going to have to learn to block it out, quickly and he would just have to understand it until she was able to do that successfully.

"Jeez, I thought that you were better than that, Zeltrax," Kim said with a laugh, as Zeltrax angrily teleported out. He could not stay any longer, as Tommy had damaged him so severely the last time that they had battled that he could barely stand upright, even after a small excursion against the little pink ranger.

He also knew that his wife was no novice fighter as well, which he knew from going up against her on the other occasions that he had been so fortunate or unfortunate as the case might be. That was why he was surprised, in some ways that he had been able to knock her out, as she had been destroying tryadrones left and right that night. Well that was until he knocked her out and then all hell broke loose on him. He had never thought that he would be going through a battle that bad, but when it happened, he sure as hell knew why Tommy might be considered one of the best rangers ever and why he was one of the most feared when mentioned to those that had gone up against him.

"Why'd he leave?" Tommy asked, as Kim ran over to his side and helped him up, as Richard had thrown him a good distance, but he was now backing away, knowing that the two of them being united was not something he wanted to go up against. He had seen what they could do together and he was not exactly sure that he had the energy to go up against the two of them, without some sort of back up that was more formidable than the tryadrones.

"I don't know, but if you want to you can always ask him the next time he shows up," Kim said, as a tryadrone grabbed her, bringing her much closer to Richard than she had already been, knowing that Tommy was terrified at what could happen to her, but Richard was now making him very busy, trying to distract him from his wife's situation. He seemed to have picked up some more combative skills, but Kim knew that there was one weakness that would never go away, for men at least. "Tommy, don't worry about him, go help the other rangers, they're in more trouble than I am. This is something I need to do on my own."

"Baby please," Tommy begged as Kim pushed him towards their hurting rangers and he stumbled away, rather reluctantly for a few steps and then broke in run as he knew that she was right. They needed him and she could hold her own against this man, for as long as they needed her to, as she had, somehow, been able to do it before.

"Nice to see you changed clothes," Kim said, as the last few times she had seen Richard he had been in these splatter stained pants and a stained, oversized, polo shirt, that he had surely picked up off of one of his older brothers.

Now he had donned a black shirt and black pants, as he had decided to try to put aside everything that he felt for her. If he was truly going to do his job, he would have to stop caring about her, someway, somehow. The fact that he still cared, was the only things that kept him from killing her in all of the opportunities he had, had before now and now he was not afraid to use the power that had been given to him, for that very purpose or so he had thought. When he saw her again, he wasn't as sure that he would be able to do what he thought he could.

"Well, I am a full convert now, Kimberly. You got married, now I'll get even," Richard said, throwing a pulse of energy towards her, at the same time Tommy was being thrown to the ground by one of the tryadrones. The pulse hurtled her into a tree, which caused her to yell out in pain and for Tommy's attention to fly over to her as he heard the yell. She had to admit to herself that she was not fully focusing on Richard, as she had heard and felt Tommy and Conner groan with pain, as well, although they were already up and fighting again. _'Focus, Kim, focus.'_

"Trickery, right? You'll never fully go to them, we both know that and I will not let anything go to waste here, Richard. I will fight fair, but if you do not, then we will continue like this," Kim said, doing her best to sound confident, as she walked closer to the man who had attempted to steal everything away from her and would continue to do that, if she allowed him to. She wanted this to end right away, but there was no way that she would be able to do it alone.

"And I know that you are scared shitless right now," Richard said sending another power pulse towards her, but she prepared herself for it and held out her power bow and used an arrow to pierce the pulse, but part of it still managed to reach her. His harshest treatment was to be designated for her and only her, unless Tommy decided to help her. His treatment would be exactly the same as hers, as he truly hated him. "You think that will really work."

"What are you doing?" Kim asked, as he reached for her helmet, which caused her to grab him by his wrists and push his hands away from her, as she knew that Devin and Cassidy could still be in the park, somewhere close by. No one could know who they were, that was just something that they never risked. If their identity were to be found out, they would become the most famous people in the world and the most likely to be killed all in one day.

"Why do you have to keep it a secret, pinkie?" Richard whispered, preparing another, stronger pulse, as he knew he had been able to break her concentration with this single action. "You know that you could have everything in the world, if only you would let people know who you are. Think about it, all of the fame and the fortune that you would want, Kimberly."

"No, you're wrong, fame and fortune do not matter to me, as they always have to you, Richard. You see, I wouldn't have him if I did that," Kim said, and Richard then sent out a pulse that caused Kim to yell out, from shock and pain. Although she somehow managed to land on her own to feet, she could barely focus her powers on him, as he had made her think about Tommy, again. She could tell that he was doing all right, but she knew that her main focus had to go to someone that she despised, if she was going to make it through this without fainting.

"You alright?" Conner asked, as he ran over to check on her. Dr. O was in an intense battle with the monster and his wife had been doing the same thing with Richard. With the tryadrones nearly gone, Conner and Trent had gone to help Tommy and Kim, as much as they could.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Kim said, ducking, as Richard tried to tackle her and landed on Conner instead, who was not too happy at the position that it put him in.

"Man, you have some issues," Conner said, throwing him off and seeing that he was going after Kim, which landed the pink ranger on top of a picnic table and in a heap of trouble.

"Richard, let me remind you of why we will always win," Kim said, kneeing him in a delicate area and he rolled off of her, but was able to recover quickly enough to throw her down on the ground, which infuriated Conner to no end.

Who did this man think he was throwing her around like that? He knew that Dr. O would have been furious and he was quite close to feeling the same way. The pink ranger did not have to do this if she did not want to, but she was there and had been fighting her heart out. The sort of treatment she was receiving was cruel and he wanted to make the man pay, although he was not sure that he was the right person to do that.

"No one messes with Pinkie," Conner said, taking a hold of Richard's shirt and throwing him as far as he could, with a satisfied grin under his helmet, as he heard him grunt, before even trying to stand up. "You need to learn to pick on someone your own size."

"Oh she's my size," Richard said, as Kim noticed the others had defeated their problems, but there was still no guarantee that the monster wouldn't grow, but Kim and Tommy could handle things on the ground if that happened.

"You pervert," Kim said, as Conner's eyes widened under his helmet, as he caught the meaning of that sentence. He was surprised to hear that one come out of an evil person, as most of them tended to keep their threats G-rated, but it seemed that Kim had been prepared for something that sickening to come out of this man's mouth, as she was now thoroughly pissed off at the man.

"He still bothering you?" Tommy asked, as he ran up next to her and could tell that they were going to be icing down some bruises and she would be explaining the attitude in which she and Conner were standing in, a little bit later tonight.

"We gotta get rid of him," Kim muttered, holding herself upright, but feeling her stomach lurch. If Tommy had made that comment, she would not feel this way. She probably would have left the room and then laughed, as it would be completely unexpected from him, but from this man, it was mild compared to some other things that she had heard. When he had been stalking her, he would often say things like that or even worse, but the coach just didn't believe her when she told him about everything that had happened.

"Here you go, Oliver's," Richard said and sent a pulse out but was surprised that Kim seemed to know before he did it and shielded Tommy from taking a direct hit. She knew that it was more important for him to be there than her, although he would argue that point to no end, as he had happened to be knocked out during their supposed "last" battle.

"Richard, do you really want to go up against us now that it is only you?" Tommy asked, stepping in front of his drained wife, as she was now propping herself up against his back, trying to find a way to hold herself up, without his complete support.

"I've got her down, Tommy, why don't you just let go?" Richard asked, as Tommy could only glare from under his helmet, as he felt Kim's grip loosen on his sides as she moved to stand next to him.

When she completely let go of him, she was determined to not let Richard know how she was truly feeling, because all she really wanted to do was cry. She had never been beaten like this before, not even when they defeated Nicarni-Aso. She was thoroughly pissed about all of this and she wanted to let him know exactly how she felt, but she did not have the energy to do that and could only hope that Tommy could take care of it without a problem.

"Because, she's my wife and you will not take her away from me. Brachio Staff," Tommy said, as the weapon appeared in his hands and Richard's eyes widened, from fear. Zeltrax had told them the story of what Tommy could do with any weapon and he did fear him, even if they could possibly be equal, he had more experience and would win if they went against each other now, as he could tell he was mad. They had all figured out that a sure-fire way to get their asses whooped was to piss Tommy off by doing something to his wife and they were pretty sure that it worked both ways.

"We'll finish this later," Richard said, opening an invisaportal and going through it, but not fast enough to avoid seeing Kim with Tommy's arm around her, pulling her closer to his side. He knew that she had been right earlier. He would truly never get over her and go completely evil. There was no way he would really kill her, although going after Tommy was much more believable in his eyes. No, Mesogogg would certainly have some problems with his decision to leave, but he knew that they could not be down two people in the field, as Zeltrax had not returned to his full strength as of yet.

"Teleport back," Tommy commanded, as Kim was being supported by him and he was actually hoping to try to get past it being two o'clock in the morning, by managing to get a good night's sleep.

"What the hell was that?" Conner asked, as Tommy unmasked Kim, carefully and looked at her pale face, knowing she had strained herself tonight, but she did look happy that she really was back. He had seen that look more than once and he was just happy that she was going to heal quickly because of the powers that were now inside of her. "That man is crazy, ya'll."

"You just picking up on that one, Conner?" Trent asked and Kira smiled, they all knew that Conner was stating what they all had been thinking, ever since that man showed up. Tommy, now, had Kim settled in his lap, while they were still in uniform, except for their helmets, which they had discarded to the floor. Both looked not to be very fatigued, except for their coloring, which showed it all: they were completely distressed by all of the sudden events that had occurred tonight.

"Trent, Conner, we don't have time for this tonight. We have to get the four of you home before daybreak," Tommy said, cutting off the fight that could ensue, from their pure exhaustion. These teens were getting used to the sleepless nights, but some of them were bound to have some things to do tomorrow, after all it was still the holiday season and their families would not cancel things because of how tired they were. "You all did good tonight, but I know we have more to improve upon, namely how we are going to deal with Richard."

"Dr. O, sorry to interrupt, but we need to know the whole story about Richard if we're going to be able to deal with him," Ethan said, as Kim physically held Tommy in the chair, as she knew he had been praying that they would never ask about that and secretly, she had been doing the same thing.

"Look, we can talk about it later," Kim said, as they looked at her, suspiciously. She had never acted like she was infuriated when he came around, but Tommy was a different story and if it had something to do with her, then it did make sense. "He's not the one that Richard troubles the most, that's me and I have to think about how I am going to tell you this. It's not really something I ever thought you would need to know, but he's here now and I don't have much choice about this."

"Take your time," Kira said, as they powered down and settled themselves on the couch. Kim looked down at Tommy and he could only give her a nod that it needed to be explained to them now, although she had to admit that she had told more people in the last few years about what had happened than she thought she would in her entire lifetime.

_After the Explanation_

"You've got to be kidding me," Kira said, as she was the first to regain her voice, but Kim could only shake her head that it was all true. Kim and Tommy didn't even seem to notice that they were still in uniform anymore, as they had done this for many hours in the past years on the job, not that, that was an important skill in things like this. It was just that when they were teens, they often times had to do repairs and in order to keep themselves. They stayed morphed, as the fabric was more uncomfortable the longer they were in it, although after a few years, they got used to it and that was when coffee became their friend.

"I wish she was," Tommy said, as Kim looked down and gave him a smile, as he continued to stare down at the floor. He hated knowing that he had not been able to help her with that when they were teenagers, but thank goodness, he was able to help her now.

"Hey, he didn't get what he wanted," Kim said, as Conner, Ethan, and Trent, finally got the full realization, which gave way to a flurry of different reactions to the situation.

"So he tried to…you know, all those years ago and then he just showed back up one day," Ethan said, as he was who could word it the best without actually having to say the words.

"Basically, but ya'll need to get home. It's about four and it's not good for you to be up this late," Tommy said, as he had to admit that his legs were going numb from Kim sitting on his lap for that long, although she could not weigh that much, but this was one thing he was not used to. Most other times that she had sat in his lap, it was maybe for an hour at most, but they had been like this for about two hours and he could barely move now.

"Tommy, they have the right to ask questions, we both know that you did," Kim said, as she stood up and pulled another chair over next to Tommy's. Tommy stretched out his legs and decided to prop them in her lap, as she insisted on answering their questions, although that might push him over the emotional edge.

"What is he doing working for Mesogogg? I thought a guy like that would just quit after he gets thrown in jail," Conner said, proving how naïve he still was in these types of things.

"I don't really know why he is working for Mesogogg, but the important thing is that he is. In Florida and California, there is not much room for sex offenders in the workplace. He probably turned to Mesogogg as a last resort, but I could be wrong on that one," Kim said, as Kira just continued to stare at her, having questions about other parts of the speech that Kim made. They didn't make sense; it seemed that she had just left another part out of the story as well, a part of the story that would reveal why she and Tommy acted the way they did so many times. "Kira, are you alright?"

"Yeah, but you said that you and Dr. O went through a rough time during all of that. What happened between the two of you?" Kira asked, as Kim looked over at, the now sleeping, Tommy, then down at the floor before regaining eye contact with Kira. Why did the she have to be so perceptive?

"I was stupid and I broke up with him. We went about five years without talking to each other after my stupid letter. Then, we had that mission that we had to participate in together. Jason and the others made us talk to each other on the first day that we saw each other. You see how that conversation went and we got back together soon after that," Kim said, as Tommy's head slipped off the side of the back of the chair. He really had been trying to keep himself awake, but after hearing some of the questions, he had decided it was just best for him to try to sleep.

"She broke up with you?" Conner asked, loud enough for Tommy to wake up and know that something had been directed at him. Kim watched, as he lifted his head off of the back of the chair, to respond to Conner's question.

"Yes, now please go home and get some rest. You can come back by tomorrow if you want to ask some more questions," Tommy said, before he nodded back off into la-la land.

"I guess that means I'm walking you out," Kim said, standing up and motioning for the to head towards the cave entrance before heading home. They were a tired bunch of kids and she was just going to tell them to teleport home, as doing anything else could make them wind up in an accident with the way their minds were probably working at the time. "Conner, hold up."

"What? Did I do something wrong?" Conner asked, as Kim laughed.

"No, I just wanted to tell you thanks for standing up for me out there. It's rough to have to do this, with Richard around and I'm sure Tommy would tell you that too. Make sure they get home all right and if you need get in touch with us, you can at any time. Although I would suggest that you let Tommy get some sleep first," Kim said, with a smile, before pushing him towards the cave door.

"It's no problem. You're one of us; we have to look after you too. You sure as hell have our backs out there, it just works both ways," Conner said with a smile before leaving to teleport back home.

"Tommy, come on. Let's go get some sleep," Kim said, as he looked up at her and realized that they were still in their uniforms.

"We better power down first," Tommy said, pointing to the uniform she was wearing and seeing her stare at herself and then at him.

"Yeah," Kim said, as she powered down and looked down at her bruised body and then over at Tommy, who had, sleepily, headed towards the stairs to grab a bag of ice, to try to decrease the coloring that was sure to be more prominent in a few hours.

"We're pathetic," Tommy said, as he looked back down at her and saw that she was placing one of their helmets away for the night.

"No, we're just old pros at this," Kim said, walking up the stairs behind him, careful to not miss a step, as her clumsiness was enhanced when she was this tired.

"What did you talk to Conner about?" Tommy asked, holding out a bag of ice, as he knew she was hurting now, by the way she had haphazardly hobbled up the stairs.

"He stood up for me against Richard," Kim said, as she smiled, although Tommy picked her up and placed the bag of ice on her bruised arm. "He is doing a good job, Tommy. I think he has finally began to fit into his job."

"Good, because if you're going to step in front of me every time those pulses are sent out, he'll have to really step up," Tommy said, as he shook his head, while seating them on the couch. He honestly did not have the energy to go any further into the house and they both were fine with that, as the couch was comfortable.

"Tommy, I know what is going to happen in those battles. I have to protect you," Kim said, as he stared at her.

"So, do you know what I am thinking now?" Tommy asked, as his last thought was not very good for her to know.

"I'm not focusing on it Tommy and I won't, we don't abuse our powers like that," Kim said, feeling like falling asleep in his arms right now and not worrying about anything else until they woke up.

"That's good," Tommy said, as Kim gently slapped him, before laying her head on his lap.

"I'm getting some sleep Tommy. I suggest that you do the same. We've had a long day and there is no telling what is going to happen to us later today," Kim said, as she snuggled closer to him.

As sleep, finally, over took them, they both had dreams, that they would one day become just a legend and not a reality. That the rangers might be something that you only heard about in history books, in the hopes that they would never be needed to do this again, as they had things that they wanted to do with this life, besides being rangers.

AN: I hope that you like this chapter and now you see how they find out about Kim getting her powers. Thanks to those of you who review and to those of you that just enjoy reading it, thanks for taking your time to read my story! Until next time, happy reading!


	21. Mesogogg Crosses the Line

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**TrueRomantic:** It was the whole thing, I just didn't feel like writing it in again. The others know it in bits and pieces. The only ones that know it all right now are: Jason, Trini, and Tommy, besides the dino rangers.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thanks for the review and here's the newest chapter.

**XRachX:** That's the way I hope for it to go.

AN: I think I may need to do a little bit of a time line for this chapter, it is set at the end of January and I don't know when Kim's birthday was in the series, but that was as good of a month as any other, so I hope that makes sense and I hope you enjoy it.

Now, on with the Story!

_Mesogogg Crosses the Line __  
Kim's POV _

I've been back in the line of duty for a few weeks now and it has been wonderful, except having to tell the others, who are not too happy about this, at all. Jason was irate for a few seconds, but he seemed to be more understanding than most of the others, after he thought about it for a little while.

He couldn't come down too hard on us, as he had done the same thing when he had become the Gold Ranger, a few years back. Our friends don't really like knowing that we are two of the current Power Rangers that they see on television every night, but they all know what the tour of duty is truly like and we can't leave until this is all done. There is no choice in that matter, we will be rangers until Mesogogg is gone, for good. No matter how long that might be.

"Hey, Jason. Look I'm inviting the gang up for a surprise birthday party for Kim this weekend. Is that alright for you?" Tommy asked, as he was in his office at the dojo, door locked and watching for any sign of Kim showing up outside the door.

Although, it was not her day to be at the dojo, he knew that she could show up anytime that she got the urge to come there, which had been more often lately. She was a little bit worried about the Mesogogg thing and with the way that the attacks were going, they had begun seeing each other less and less. So whenever they had spare time, they would pop into see each other, whether it was at work or just the other sitting in the bathroom while one of them took a shower. It was rough not seeing their spouse, except when they were sleeping, but they had somehow made it through this when they were dating and they would be able to do it now that they were married.

"And you need us to help you, right?" Jason asked, as he had a feeling there was a lot more to the meaning of that sentence.Tommy just sounded like he needed to talk to some of them and that this happened to be a good excuse to do that, before the birthday party.

"From ya'll, I'll just need some help with the things around the house, like grilling some food. I'll get the girls to take her shopping all day, which shouldn't be too hard to convince her to do, I hope. Plus, all of us haven't gotten together in awhile and there are some things we need to talk about," Tommy said, propping his feet on top of the desk, as he leaned back in his chair, trying to relax. He was stressed, but he didn't want to let them know too much about all of it, although Jason could probably read his mind right now, if he put any effort into it, as he was not trying to disguise anything in his voice.

"Is the new team going to be there?" Jason asked, as he had checked to make sure no one was really listening to him, in his tiny, athletic trainer's, office.

He was being fairly vague with the details, but if anyone even got the tiniest inkling he was talking about the rangers. He would be in a load of trouble and he did not want to have to deal with the punishment that Tommy might deal out to him if he let this one slip. It was one thing to accidentally tell Ally and Hayley, as they trusted them, but if he told anyone else, Tommy would probably kill him.

"Maybe, we try to give them the weekends to do whatever they want, although the call does go out quite a bit nowadays. I don't know Jase, I just want them to be able to be teenagers," Tommy said, as he knew Jason had been seeing the television broadcasts, almost daily, of there being an attack in Reefside, which was not comforting, knowing how long it would take him to get there if he was ever needed. All of the rangers that didn't live in Reefside felt that way, but they did deal with it, knowing that they now could be teleported in, if something really went wrong and driving there was absolutely impossible.

"Yeah, ya'll have had it rough, but remember that they agreed to this Tommy. I know that you wouldn't give up your powers for anything and they probably feel the same," Jason said, closing the door carefully, as he was going to stop censoring things, very soon and he could only pray that no one would come up and listen into what he was saying. "Kim doing okay? She didn't seem like herself the last time I talked to her, bro."

"She's had it rough the last few weeks. Richard tends to go after her, but she's got a lot of things going for her, although that isn't enough in her mind," Tommy said, wanting to avoid the real subject of inquiry, knowing Jason could possibly know about everything from that one phone call he had, had with her. He had overheard some of her conversations and he knew that the subject had come up, only he hoped it was not with Jason.

"Tommy, she wants a baby," Jason said, as he could picture Tommy staring at the phone if he didn't know, but it seemed he knew all too well as he was calm in his response.

"I know," Tommy muttered, having removed himself from his relaxed position and was now slumping over his desk, head in his hands, as he held the receiver to his ear with his shoulder. He did not really want to talk about this now, but it was better if he went ahead and explained things to Jason now, instead of later. Jason was the one person that he might be able to get to understand it and then let it go, as he just needed someone to listen to him. The other guys would listen, but they didn't understand some of the things that went through Tommy's mind as well. "And we've talked about it and we kinda came to the conclusion that whatever happens, just happens."

"Isn't that being a little bit careless, Tommy?" Jason asked, trying to not yell threw the telephone, as he wanted him to know he was serious about this situation. He did not want them to go through a miscarriage or something even worse, if Mesogogg waited until after they had a child to try to attack it. He knew them well enough to know that if the baby where to die because of Mesogogg, then they would no longer be stable people and Mesogogg and anyone that stepped in their way would die. "Either one of you could get killed out there and having a baby at home, well the baby could become a target, Tommy."

"I know all of that Jason, but she doesn't want to go on birth control, like her mom made her do in high school, although we did nothing," Tommy said, letting out an exasperated sigh. He wished she would go on birth control, but he knew that she really didn't want to do that, so he was not going to push her to. There were other things that he could spend his energy fighting with her about and this was just not the top priority for him.

"Look, I'm just telling you don't let this get out of hand or things between the two of you will fall apart. I don't want to go through the two of you breaking things off, because this time I think I will lock you in a room together," Jason said, as he heard Tommy's grip on the phone become firmer.

"Jason, like you said, she wants a baby and so do I, but it's just too risky right now, but things happen every day that is odder than that for the two of us. We'll get through it, don't worry. I'm never going to let her do something like that again," Tommy said, as he could imagine Jason shrugging his shoulders at the point he was making. He couldn't argue with him, but he sure as hell could not agree with him. "I gotta get going, but you think you'll be able to make it Saturday?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Jason said and then hung up the phone, knowing he had a lot to talk to Trini about that night when he got home.

_Party Preparations _

"Hey guys," Tommy said, as Jason and Rocky walked in, each carrying a case of drinks that needed to be iced down. When Tommy had called this morning, they were surprised, but they were willing to go get some drinks, as Kim would not leave that morning. "Thanks for picking up those, I literally had to carry Kim to her car this morning and forbid her to come back home. She's worried about Mesogogg coming after you since you're in town. She seems to forget sometimes that all of you were rangers at one time."

"Well, look who she's living with. You aren't exactly the best person to criticize someone forgetting something. What's going on with the baby issue?" Jason asked, as he received a death glare from Tommy and a confused look from Rocky. He couldn't understand why the subject of a baby, just came up out of the blue and it kinda freaked him out, to be honest.

"What baby? Kim's not pregnant, is she?" Rocky asked, sitting down the drinks on the kitchen table, amidst the other guys. He was honestly scared for them and the other guys were now staring at Tommy, hoping that he would have some sort of explanation for all of this, as they were just as startled.

"No, but she wants a baby," Tommy said, getting a cup out of one of the upper cabinets and filling it with ice, before putting some water in it.

When he sat down, the others could only continue to stare, as they wondered why she would want a baby, now. They were already in enough danger, by having to suit back up again, and that could possibly increase the danger they were in. What were they thinking to try to have a baby now?

"You're alright with that?" Zack asked, as he caught onto Tommy's feelings in what he didn't say in that statement. He did not say that he really wanted a baby right now, which was unlike Tommy, as he usually got on board with whatever Kim wanted, but he was thinking of other things in their life.

"Yes, but no. She wants a baby, as soon as possible, but it'll all work itself out, somehow. I am not going to tell her no," Tommy said, as they had yet to have this problem, among the rangers. They had, had, the dating, the engagement, and even the marriage, but a baby would be another first that they would have in this group, if things continued like this.

"Tommy, you know if shewinds up pregnant it will take her out of the line of duty and it could even put her in more danger than she is already in," Jason said, as Tommy could only shrug his shoulders, while he thought about how to explain this to them, without offending any of them.

"We know that, but when Trini and you want a baby, don't tell me you won't try to give it to her, Jason. She's my wife first and the pink ranger second. She can't be forced to do both, if she wants a baby, the ranger suit will be put aside, for awhile. We went without her for a good while at the beginning. We can do it again and we both feel the same about it," Tommy said, as they couldn't help but agree with him, although not many others outside of them would. They all knew how they would feel, it just seemed like Tommy and Kim almost always went through it first, which made it really difficult on the two of them.

"Are we going to talk about this all day or are we going to cook and decorate?" Adam asked, as he knew that Tommy would bring his intentions up next, if he allowed him to have the chance.

"You're right, let's go," Tommy said, as he finished his cup of water and went to grab some decorations from the desk he had in the living room. "And guys, don't talk to Kim about this. She's already pretty mad about it, as Conner and Ethan don't understand it, at all. They kinda walked in when we were talking about it, but that's another story. Kira and Trent seem to understand her reasoning a little bit better, but I'm not sure that they are even one hundred percent behind it."

"So they're your power couple?" Billy asked with a laugh, as they all knew that it was bound to happen sometime during the new rangers' career.

"Yeah. Just imagine me and Kim at that age," Tommy said, as a few of them laughed out loud at this description and he knew that they were going to react like that, as he knew that they would surely notice it this afternoon. So, he might as well forewarn them.

_The Party _

"This was great, no trouble, no problems, and I even got some clothes," Kim said, as Trini and the others were bursting with the secret they had been keeping all day.

Tommy, however, was nervous that she wouldn't want the birthday party, but they had assured her that she would. She thought that her present from Tommy, was being allowed to shop with his credit card, which was not really a problem anymore, as he had gotten used to it over the past few months.

"Why don't you go put those upstairs and then come on outside? I'm sure that the guys are already out there," Trini suggested, as they had all dropped their bags in their various vehicles upon their arrival. They had managed to talk with Tommy earlier that day and this was the plan that they had worked out and they were glad that she was not second-guessing any of it.

"Okay, tell the guys that I'll be out there in a second," Kim said, scurrying up the stairs, laden down with her purchases. Once she had deposited them, in their room, she headed towards the deck and the backyard, clueless to what was going on.

"Surprise!" They all yelled, as Kim opened the door, which had been covered for some reason, but it didn't really strike her as odd.

She could only stare at them, trying to figure out how they had pulled this one off without her noticing. The guys had even managed to make the backyard presentable and had actually cooked some food, which surprised her more than anything else. She had just expected them to do nothing all day.

"My God," Kim muttered, as Tommy walked up behind her, sure to surprise her even more, as he found himself tempted to put his arms around her, but didn't. She looked so overwhelmed and he did not want her to faint, but she should be alright for just a few more seconds. "Where's Tommy?"

"Happy birthday," Tommy whispered in her ear, as she jumped around and then gave him a hug, as soon as she could manage it, which caused him to laugh. "You like it?"

"Yes, Tommy. Thank you for doing this," Kim said, as their friends prepared themselves for a long display of affection, but Kim and Tommy knew exactly how much that annoyed them, even if they had never really voiced it to the two of them.

"No PDA?" Adam asked, as Tommy couldn't help but laugh, while Kim glared at both of them. They had often times been classified like that, but the surprises that they gave each other, often times made it worth the ridicule and everything else that their friends could dish out.

"Nope," Tommy said with laughter in his voice and Kim gave him another hug.

"Have we had the baby discussion yet?" Ally asked, curious to how long it would be before all of them got the fateful call that said they would have their first ranger baby on the way. Ally, however, didn't know that subject had already been brought up and it was a delicate one, for the time being.

"Yes, but there is going to be no baby talk today. Now, what all do you have planned?" Kim asked, as Tommy looked at her and could tell that she hated knowing that they needed to wait through all of this before they tried. They also knew that at this rate, she could be pregnant by the end of this year, leaving them one ranger short in the field, which was something she didn't want to have to deal with.

"Just what's on the table for food and they got you some little knick knacks," Tommy said, as they had decided it was time to file into line and eat before they got down to the other business that they needed to talk about.

"What do I get from you?" Kim whispered into his ear and he couldn't help but smile down at her for that one. He could have been mean and told her nothing, but she would have probably tried to knock him out for that one after everything that had happened lately.

"You'll see," Tommy said, mischievously, as she gave him a confused stare and then served herself in line, as Trini had grabbed her attention with telling her that she had found a new job. The others, also, knew that Jason had found a ring and was planning to propose sometime soon.

"Did Jason mention to you that we're going to some restaurant next week?" Trini asked, as Kim glanced over at Jason and then went on with the fake conversation that she was going to have to make, as she knew more details about that little dinner than Trini did.

"Nope, he didn't. What's the special occasion?" Kim asked, as Jason looked carefully at her, before listening to Trini's answer.

"I'm not sure, but it'll be nice to just have some time together, outside of the house, no matter what happens," Trini said, as they all had settled themselves on various lawn furniture, knowing that they were here to do other things beside celebrate Kim's birthday.

"Okay, Tommy, spill it," Aisha said, as Kim laughed at her bluntness. Kim had known that Tommy had been planning to inform them that their dear friend was back, as he had not had time to do that before the wedding, but neither was sure how they would take it.

"Well, there's some things that have happened that I haven't really had a chance to tell you about," Tommy said, as they all had this bewildered look on their faces, even if Tommy was trying to be nice about it, they would rather him just come out and say it.

"Like what?" Conner asked, as Ethan popped him on the back of the head, to let him know that they were not the ones that he was talking to right now.

"Well, you already know about it Conner, but they don't. A few weeks ago, we had a little bit of a shock when my communicator went off," Tommy said, as Kim then supplied them with the sound that their communicators had always had, until now.

"Did it sound like that?" Hayley asked, as she had never heard that sound before, but all of the other rangers were transfixed in their spots, unable to move as they had not heard that sound in two years or more for some of them. They knew the only ones that knew about that sound and it did not seem likely that either of them would be back on Earth.

"Yeah, it did," Tommy said, as he saw the wheels spinning in Billy's mind and knew that he was close to asking about whether Alpha had reappeared. The others were thinking it, but they could not deal with saying it aloud.

"It's not supposed to sound like that," Hayley said, confused as to what this had to do with them, but when she looked over at Billy he was smiling up at her about how frazzled she was getting.

"You're right, yours is not supposed to sound like that," Billy said, as Hayley had no clue where Billy was heading with this one, "but Alpha's would, wouldn't it Tommy?"

"Yeah, it would," Tommy said, as smiles spread on everyone's faces, but it was to be short lived, as Tommy heard his communicator go off and before he could respond, tryadrones were descending around their house. "Crap, he knows they're here."

"Pretty girls," Richard said, walking towards the group of females that he saw, but having Jason step, protectively, in front of him, while Elsa was heading towards the guys, although they had started fighting the tryadrones, almost immediately. They all knew better than to stand still, as that was one thing that they could use to insure that they would be captured. "What are you going to do Mr. Scott, because I'll take them any time I want to."

"You son of a bitch," Jason said, throwing Richard a good distance and quite a few people were shocked by it, although they were all fighting now, except Ally and Hayley, who were still shocked that this was happening.

"Toss me," Kim said, as Zack threw her straight up in the air, while two tryadrones collided beneath her and it seemed that Mesogogg had been expecting that they were all novice fighters, but the only one that was like that was Ally, but it was alright, as Hayley had pulled her inside and taken her to the command center as soon as she could. "Works every time."

"Go make sure they don't…" Zack said, as Conner looked at him, from under his helmet.

"Hey, just because we're new, doesn't mean that we're stupid," Conner said, as the other shrugged their shoulders, not sure if they could exactly agree with his statement.

"Oliver," Zeltrax said, as Tommy looked him in the eyes. Over the past few weeks, he had been able to recuperate himself enough to be able to face him, although the man still looked livid about all of it.

"You're a brave man to come onto my property and do this," Tommy said, as he saw Kim run by, on her way to help Trini and Aisha.

"Thanks, Trini said, as Kim threw one of the tryadrones and kicked another one out of her way. "What can we do to help?"

"Keep yourselves from being captured," Kim said, as the two immediately spread out, in order to make it harder for these things to be able to get both of them at the same time.

"We can try," Aisha said, jumping up to grab one of the tree limbs and pulled herself up on top of it, as Elsa decided to have some fun with the former ranger.

"Which one were you?" Elsa asked, backing Aisha towards the end of the limb, as she had no where else to go.

"That shouldn't matter to someone like you," Aisha said, as Elsa kicked her off the limb, only for Trent to catch her just in the knick of time. "Thanks."

"No problem," Trent said, placing her on the ground and then getting kicked by a tryadrone. "Won't these things ever quit?"

"Nope," Kim said, as she and Billy back-handspringed past the two of them, finally coming to a stop at the back of the house.

"Makes you dizzy when you're out of practice," Billy said, as he reoriented himself, while Kim took out a few tryadrones.

"I know, Billy, but we'll get them out of here in a little while," Kim said, as Richard grabbed her from behind and dragged her towards an open invisaportal. "Tommy!"

"Jason, grab her!" Tommy yelled, as he knew it would take a small miracle for him to get there in time to keep her from going through the invisaportal, but Jason was being held up, so he was going to have to do it, somehow.

"Got you," Conner said, tackling Kim to the ground, but breaking Richard's grip on her hand, as he went through the invisaportal and they tumbled to the ground. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Kim said, looking around to make sure everything was gone before she powered down. The old rangers now saw a very familiar look coming across in Tommy and Kim's expressions. They knew that had been too close of a call for their liking, but at least they had been able to save her this time.

"Thank goodness you're alright," Tommy said, as Conner could not know just how grateful he was that he had kept her from being pulled through that portal, although, even Conner, could see it in his actions. "Thank you, Conner."

"Dr. O, it's not a big deal," Conner said, as the others thought back to when they were in the position to say something like that, but now they knew just how big of a deal it had always been, no matter how many times they tried to ride it off as nothing.

"Is everyone else alright?" Kim asked, as she was sure that Tommy was only checking to make sure that she had not been injured. She could hear that their breathing was starting to return to normal, but that they were even more tense about any noises they heard now and they were listening to some pretty odd things.

"We're fine," Rocky said, as they all nodded their heads in agreement. They were all tired, but Tommy was happy that they had been able to hold their own, with out their legendary ability to morph. "When are we going to get to see Alpha?"

"We can go down there right now, if you want to," Tommy said, as they all looked at him and then started walking towards the command center, although they all wanted to run for, so that they would not have to wait any longer to see their long time friend and colleague.

AN: I know that this is a short chapter and the next one will probably be short as well, but I'm trying to build up some things that will happen in the remaining few chapters. I hate to break it to everyone who is reading but there are only nine chapters left in this story, so I hope you enjoy it while it lasts!


	22. I Yi yi yi yi

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**True Romantic:** Yeah, only nine left in this one, but let me remind you there is a third story in this series. Great, but it is kinda sad.

**XRachX:** Yeah, Alpha's back and I'm glad you like it. Thank you for the compliment and I'll try to keep it up.

**secret guest:** Thanks for the review, I appreciate it and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter.

Now, on with the Story!

_I Yi-yi-yi-yi _

"Are all of you alright?" Hayley asked, as the group of rangers, both new and old, made their way down the steps and into the decievingly bright basement, which is something no one would have expected if they saw it a few months before.

She could see a faint bruise appearing on Billy's arm and another bruise on Jason's cheek, but other than that, they seemed to be fine. Although, she knew Tommy was worried about Kim, as he had not expected Richard to try to take her away, while he was standing right there. It made her feel to sick to her stomach to know that she could have witnessed that, but she could only imagine what it was doing to Tommy.

"We're fine, Hayley. This is what we do best," Zack said, as the others smiled at how true the statement was. They could be thousands of miles apart, but having a ranger duty to fulfill could bring them back together, no matter what else might be standing in their way, although that was hard to believe for some people. "Where's Alpha? We all want to seem him"

"I'm not sure, he wasn't looking at the monitors when I came down here," Hayley said, as she noticed that Rocky had made his way over to sit down next to Ally, who was rather shaken up about all of this. She had never seen them fight before and she had no clue how they had been able to do that, while they were still in school. It just blew her mind, to even think of the concept after seeing what they had just gone through and knowing that was not the worst of it.

"Rocky," Ally muttered as he put his arm around her and she fell against his side and tried to collect herself, emotionally.

She didn't expect for the battles to have so many things that could go wrong in them. They had always talked about them, as if they were normal and didn't have all of the risks that she knew in the back of her mind that they had. There was no way to be ready for something like this and she didn't even know if she really was prepared to deal with something like this on a daily basis.

"Hey, I'm fine. I promise. It's all going to be okay," Rocky said, giving her a hug and then turning himself to look at the other rangers who all seemed to see it as a little bit off, but they had never had someone who knew about it be this close to them and not do the duties themselves. They had never had to try to explain to someone that this was just a normal risk for them and now that they were trying that, they couldn't find the right way to describe it.

"Alpha," Tommy said weakly, walking over and opening one of the doors to the closet space that they had deemed necessary for a place like this to have. He did not like the way he thought this was gong to go, but it had to be done.

"Yes, Tommy," Alpha said, looking up at him, clutching the tape of Zordon in his hands, knowing that it was time that they all saw the truth about this, even if they didn't want to. They deserved to know what had been meant for them to hear a long time ago, but things had just gotten in the way of letting that happen and now was the first time that he had gotten the opportunity to do so.

"They want to see you," Tommy said, as he noticed the tape. He, for one, was not sure he would make it through another viewing and he was almost positive that Kim would not. It was just too stressful to see Zordon, even after all of the years that he had been gone from their lives. "They don't have to see that today, Alpha. I'm sure that they are just happy that you're back with us. There is no need to upset everyone just yet."

"No, Tommy, they have to see it today. They may not be back here for a long time, you know that and I don't know how long I will be here, as well. They need to see it, even if it is going to be rough on them," Alpha said, as he teetered past Tommy, towards the main part of the command center, prepared for whatever was to come.

"Alpha," Trini said, upon seeing the robot coming towards them, although he did seem rather hesitant, but soon got into the spirit of things, as they didn't know about the video that he felt that he had to play to them.

"I yi-yi-yi-yi. I forgot there were so many of you," Alpha said, as they all tried to make their way towards him to give him a hug, which was a funny sight to see, as they all seemed to move as one, like so many other times when they were excited or scared about something.

"I didn't think that you could forget that, Alpha," Jason said, as he watched the robot eye his and Trini's hands, before looking back up at him. He knew what was going on, much more than he was letting on to most and when Jason caught what he was thinking about, he had to keep from physically shuddering, as he knew that Alpha would not say anything, but Tommy would possibly.

"Well, Jason, if I'm right there are some things that are worth forgetting about," Alpha said, as they looked at him, rather puzzled as to why he would say that at all. Although Jason could think of only one instance that he would love to forget as a ranger, but it was something that very few people knew about. Those that did, however, knew better than to say anything, as he was likely to tackle them to the floor. "Listen, there is something I need to show you and it's not going to be all that pretty for most of you to deal with."

"What is it?" Aisha asked, as she felt Zack tighten his grip on her hand, while they noticed Kim almost sink to the floor when she realized what Alpha was talking about, but lucky for them, Tommy was still holding her up. Although it did look like he was planning to sit down, himself, within the next few seconds, as he looked close to fainting, which was a first for Tommy. They had seen him in some odd situations, but this did not seem to be one of those, yet.

"It's something that will explain to you why I really came back to help here," Alpha said, as he pushed the video into the player and pressed the play button, while the rangers settled themselves on the cold, tile floor. Alpha couldn't help but wonder whether or not they would be able to take it, but he did know that no matter what, the rangers would take it for what it was and then try to get over it. However, he did not know if it was possible for them to get over it as quickly as they would like.

"Hello, everyone. This is one of the last times that I will have an opportunity to do this and I think there are some things that all of you need to know. To the rangers, I want you to continue in the line of duty, as long as the people of Earth need your protection. Rangers will always be needed in this world and it has been a privilege to be around so many of you, during my short stay here. Now there are some things I want to say to the rangers that I have chosen to protect this world, as I hope it will help you down the line.

"Tommy, you will find her again, trust me on that one. It may take a long time, but you will, have some faith and trust in me on this one. Jason, be strong for the rest of them and the leader that I know you are. You will have to make some tough decisions, but they will listen to you, when they won't even talk to some of the others. Kimberly, we all make mistakes in this life, I only hope that you will be able to correct your mistake before it is too late. Rocky, you have proved yourself worthy of this task, do not doubt your abilities. Adam, I know where your strength lies, do not let her get away from you, like you have seen so many of your friends do. Aisha, watch out for your friends, they are going to need it over the next few years. Billy, they will need all of information that you can provide and expertise only you can give. I only hope you will be there to give it to them. Zack, keep them smiling, times will be rough on all of you. Trini, you will find everything you need, although it may be later than you like. Katherine and Tanya, although I did not know you as long as the rest, I know that you will always be there to back them up, when they need the extra encouragement. Alpha, there is one thing I ask of you, watch out for the rangers once I am gone. They will need leadership some day and you will need to come back and help them. Good-bye rangers and let the power protect you," Zordon finished, and the video flickered out, until the white noise took over.

As it came to an end, the rangers looked at each other and then over at Alpha, knowing how hard it had been on all of them when they lost Zordon. He had been their leader, the one person they could go to for answers to some of the most pressing questions, but most importantly, he had been their friend, at a time when no one else could understand all of it. They all missed him dearly and seeing this only brought the reality home even harder that, he was truly gone from their lives forever.

"Why did he have to leave us?" Jason asked, miserably, as his voice was full of emotion and he could not imagine what they could have already done, if Zordon had been there to guide them now. They might have been able to get rid of Mesogogg already and then they could have truly gone on to have a normal life, like they all so desperately wanted.

"Jason, he was doing what was best, for all of us. If he had not done that, then we would probably have been rangers without a break for almost a decade. I hate knowing that he is gone, but we can still uphold the things that he has taught us," Kat said, and then they all went silent for a little while longer, even with Conner, Kira, Trent, and Ethan, not knowing much about Zordon, they knew enough to not ask questions with the way that the rangers were acting right now. As they all seemed to be purely distressed about all of it, knowing that they missed him a lot and that he would never come back to them.

"Zordon wanted us to be protected, to let us be able to have a life, but there are also the times when things happen to change what he wanted for us," Kim said, as she had finally regained her composure, although this was her second time seeing the video of what they would call Zordon's last will and testament. It still shook her every time that she watched it, knowing that it really was Zordon on that screen and that he had truly wanted all of them to know that he had been thinking about them when he died.

"Kim, it's easier for you and Tommy. The two of you are rangers again and you are doing something good, all of us are just sitting back, waiting for the call to come out that it is time for us to suit back up," Aisha said, as she saw that Tommy and Kim were both shaking their heads in denial of that statement. It was not easier for them to be suited back up and try to be normal people at the same time.

"It's not easier for us," Tommy said, as he felt Kim grab his hand and hold onto it for dear life, knowing that he was going to bring up a subject that they had been trying to avoid the whole day. The thing was it had to be said in order for him to get his point across. "Think about some of the things that we want from a regular life, Aisha. We want kids that we will be able to raise in a safe world, but in order to have that world, we have to fight against these monsters and put our life on hold. It's not an easy decision to make, but we both know what would be best for us in the long run, although we hate to admit it to anyone."

"Tommy, you once said that being a ranger was your life, that this duty was what kept you going. The two of you can work around being a ranger and have a normal life, it'll just take some extra time and work," Zack said, as the others nodded in agreement.

"The thing is Zack, we don't have the extra time that everyone thinks that we have. Most nights, we don't get to sleep until after midnight and we have to be up early in the morning, ready to head off to school, to deal with kids that do not know who we are and probably never will. We may be rangers, but we are only human and we have our limitations, just like everyone else in this room," Kim said, as she could see just how emotionally drained that they all were to be able to have this conversation without yelling at each other.

"But you are not alone in this," Kira said, as she knew that this was probably the only part where the younger rangers could step in and not be yelled at, especially with what she was saying. "We're always here to help you."

"I know, Kira, but there are times when Kim and Tommy have to do things on their own down here," Hayley said, as she remembered them being instrumental in building the command center the previous summer. If it hadn't been for the two of them pulling those days without any sleep, there probably wouldn't have been a command center now, when they so desperately needed it. She had thought, a few months ago, that they had been crazy, but they were right about all of it and now she had even more respect for them.

"Like what?" Conner asked, as it seemed that the older rangers were being pulled out of their revelry and back into reality, although they did not want to face it right now.

"Like building this place, doing repairs, communicating with the space rangers and other rangers when they have to. Those are all things that they let you go home before they do, as they want you to be able to be as normal of teenagers as possible for what you are. They know what it is like to not be able to go out on dates or even leave town for the weekend, but they are hoping that you won't have to deal with the same thing," Hayley said, as they could not believe how much they didn't know about their mentors.

"But, why do you let us go home before that happens?" Ethan asked, knowing that one-day they might have to be the ones to be doing the same thing. "We always want to help you."

"Because, there is going to come a time when you don't get the chance to go home and you need to be able to enjoy it while you can. I don't know if you have realized it yet, but the four of you will be here to help us get rid of Mesogogg and that means, you will not be at home for a long time. We're just trying to save you from some of the problems that we experienced," Tommy said, as they couldn't really believe all of it. Their teacher was trying to tell them that they needed to live while they can, but why weren't they taking their own advice?

"Why aren't the two of you doing that? Why aren't you living life while you can?" Kira asked, as they saw Tommy hang his head, before looking over at Kim. He wasn't sure if he should say what he felt, but he knew that the look in her eyes was enough for him to have to say it. Not telling them the truth would be obvious with their friends here and if it came down to it, then they would deal with the consequences of what was said.

"Kira, there are things that we want, but it's a much bigger risk for us to do those things and being rangers has become our life. We really don't know how to live without being rangers and the thing is, there are some things in life that you have to wait for," Tommy said, as he saw Jason hide his face, as he could think of exactly what they were waiting to get.

"Guys, I know that this day has had a lot of things happen, but I hope that you don't think that we're not trying to get rid of this soon," Kim said, as the others laughed. They could only imagine exactly how hard Kim and Tommy were trying to get rid of Mesogogg.

"Pinkie, we know, but don't worry, we'll always be able to come back to help you. Alpha, now how about we hear our communicator ring, one more time?" Rocky asked, with a smile, as they all knew that it was time to go home and really begin thinking about the things that were ahead of them. They knew that they had only seen a fraction of what Mesogogg was capable of, which was not very comforting to any of them, as there was no telling what might happen to them the next time that they went into battle.

AN: I know that is the same video quote from a few chapters back, but I didn't think that I could say that Alpha played the video and then just show their reaction, without Zordon saying anything, so I hope that clarifies it for those of you who are probably wondering why I used some of the exact same dialogue twice. Only eight chapters left!


	23. Trini and Jason's Engagement

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**XRachX:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you like Alpha, as I was not sure that I could pull that character off. Hey, it's fine if you miss a chapter or two, as it was a little while back.

**secretguest:** I'll try, but it may take a little while.

**Ghostwriter:** I'm glad it does. Hey it's fine, we all have things that happen to distract us.

Now, on with the Story!

_Trini and Jason's Engagement _

_Kim's POV _

Well, Jason took Trini to that 'restaurant' that she was talking about at my birthday party from a few weeks ago, a little bit earlier tonight. We all know that Jason had planned for the two of them, but I know that Trini didn't have a clue about any of it.

There was, supposedly, nothing special to cause Jason to take her to one of her favorite places during high school. Ernie had been more than willing to fix them a meal, as Jason wanted to do something that Trini would truly be surprised about, from what I have been able to pry out of Tommy. So, when I got a call from Trini tonight, I wasn't at all surprised about what she had to tell me had happened to her today.

_The Juice Bar _

"Thanks Ernie, you have no idea how much this will mean to Trini," Jason said, as he had just checked with him on the last minute details that he had been forced to change.

Trini had gotten somewhat suspicious, but he was going to do it this way, if he had to lie to her in every way imaginable. He knew that he would be able to keep her trust in him, considering that he was doing something nice for her, instead of something horrible, like she might very well think.

"Anytime, Jason. You kids have done so much for me; it's the least I can do for you. So, how's the happy couple up in Reefside doing?" Ernie asked.

He had been unable to attend the wedding, but they all assured him that Kim and Tommy understood it all. They knew what it was like to have things come up and not be able to make it to planned occasions, as they had, had it happen more than once.

"They're doing good. They are both really busy with work, but you know how it is for them. They never slow down, I don't know if they ever will," Jason said, being as honest as he could be without being tempted to tell Ernie about them being rangers. They had known Ernie for so many years, but they had never told Ernie, although there were some days when they were sure that he knew it all, by just the knowing look he would give them.

"But no baby in the plans for them yet?" Ernie asked, as he had gotten the feeling that Kim and Tommy would be on the hurry up end of things, if at all possible.

They just always seemed afraid that things would be stolen away from them and Ernie didn't really blame them, at least not from what he thought was going on. If his suspicions were correct, his dear friends were currently the black and pink rangers and he knew what that type of stress had done to them when they were younger, although he would never tell them that he knew about it. It was supposed to be a secret and that was why it was kept that way.

"No, not yet, give them a few more months, Ernie," Jason said, as he found it odd that Ernie would talk about it now, as he was still not very comfortable with the idea of them having a baby. Sure, he was ready for them to have kids, if that was what they wanted, but the circumstances just seemed all wrong for that type of situation to occur without added problems arising. Of course, he never would tell them that or he might get taken out by his best friends. "I'm going to try to get Trini here by seven, but I'm making no promises Ernie. She doesn't know where we're going, so she may take her time getting dressed."

"Don't rush her, Jason. I'll be ready whenever you get here," Ernie said, as Jason turned to leave the very active Juice Bar, knowing he would be returning to a completely different scene later that evening.

"Jason," Trini said, walking out in a T-shirt of his and seeing he was dressed more casually than she thought he would be. "How do I need to dress?"

"However you want to Trini," Jason said, looking up at her from the spot he had picked on the couch. He was trying to keep his nerves from getting the best of him, but he soon found himself barely able to speak to her.

"Are you alright? You look sick, Jason," Trini said, as Jason looked over at her, knowing his face had gone several shades paler in the last few seconds and he silently cursed his body for giving himself away like this. He had been hoping to keep himself in check this time, but he still had notbeen able to do it.

"I'm fine. It was just a long day at work today. Now go ahead and get dressed," Jason said, putting on the most confident face that he could manage without her becoming overly worried about him.

"Alright, but I don't see why you are so anxious to do all of this," Trini said, letting him know she would go along with this, but that she knew something was up, although he had done a good job of covering his tracks. "So this is alright?"

"Yeah, you look good," Jason said, as he stood up to walk with her towards his car. He could feel his hand sweating and he knew that Trini could probably feel it too, but was being polite enough to not ask anymore questions, for the time being.

"What are we doing here?" Trini asked, as they drove up to the now deserted Juice Bar and she saw Ernie standing outside and motioning for them to come on inside.

"You'll see," Jason said, as he knew that she was truly confused now. She had thought they would be going to some nice restaurant and now they were at Ernie's, it made no sense at all to her. Why would he bring her here? "Come on."

"Hello, Trini, Jason. Nice to see the two of you again, glad you stopped by tonight," Ernie said, faking ignorance well enough that if Jason had not known what was going on then he would have believed that this was nothing out of the ordinary for Ernie to do.

"Nice see you too, Ernie, but do you happen to have any idea of what Jason has planned for tonight?" Trini asked, as Jason pushed her chair a little closer to the table.

"No, Trini, but I do know that you came here to have a nice little dinner and some peace and quiet, which I intend for you to have," Ernie said, as he went back into the kitchen to grab the plates of food that he had just finished preparing.

"So, this is how we're celebrating my getting a new job and getting away from that horrible woman?" Trini asked as Jason chuckled about that one.

"Sure, if that's the way you want to think about it," Jason said, as he knew the way he wanted to head with this conversations was back to the past for a few moments and then hopefully to the question of their future, if he could work up the nerve.

"I love this place Jason. I just wish that we had the time to come here more often, now that we've both settled down here," Trini said, as Ernie discreetly placed their plates in front of them and then exited the room again.

"So do I, you know that the teams from the youth center are the ones that Tommy's kids are going to be competing against in a few weeks," Jason said, as he had, had some of them talk to him about it this afternoon. Some of the kids were apprehensive about going up against anyone Tommy had trained, as they remembered how he fought, however vaguely it might be. "They're scared Trini."

"And they have the right to be Jason," Trini said, as she caught Jason smiling at her honesty. She had never been a huge fan of sparring against Tommy, herself, but she had done so on the rare occasion that Jason or one of the other guys were not available, because Tommy out and out refused to spar with Kim. They had never questioned why, as he usually wore them out quickly and he didn't like what he might accidentally do to her if his mind was not in the right place. "I'm afraid to go up against the guy most days. His kids are bound to be good."

"They're just kids, Trini and I only know of two of them that are pretty good, but I think that Tommy is preparing them to have to deal with someone like himself," Jason said, as Trini could only stare at him. He was the only one anywhere close to having Tommy's skills, next to Rocky, and even he was not willing to go into an event against him lightly.

"Well, then them being scared is very realistic," Trini said, as she was sure that he had been working the ones that were taking an active part in the competition against himself, if at all possible. "Do you think that the two of you will compete against each other?"

"I want to and he wants to, but I'm not sure a bunch of teenagers will take too well to seeing the two of us going up against each other. It might not be interesting enough," Jason said and he could tell immediately that Trini did not agree with him on his view of how interesting the two of them going against each other would be.

"Jason, most people still don't know how to explain why we liked seeing it, but we did and I'm sure they would feel the same way. The two of you are still too much alike," Trini said, as she noticed Jason was fiddling with his pants pocket, but he did seem to be listening to her, which was fine.

"That's what we hope," Jason said, as he knew he had better start talking about what was really on his mind soon or he would lose his nerve very quickly and he did not want that to happen.

"Why did Kim seem so fake surprised about you taking me somewhere?" Trini asked, as she had no clue that she had just thrown open the door to the topic that Jason so desperately wanted to talk about.

"Funny you should ask, you see it has a lot to do with what I need to talk to you about," Jason said, as Trini peered at him with great interest, but tried to keep herself from appearing scared, as she did not want Jason to tell her something horrible. She just didn't know if she could take that from him right now. He had been the one that was holding her up from falling down lately and she just hoped he wouldn't leave her alone now.

"What do we need to talk about Jason?" Trini asked, as he caught the way she thought this was going to go by the lack of confidence that her voice gave off.

"It's not bad honey. It's just something that I've been thinking about for awhile," Jason said, as he stood up from his chair and offered a hand to Trini, so he could lead her over to the old mats that they had sparred on so many times together and apart, which was something that he didn't like to think about.

"Jason, you're not making any sense to me. Are you feeling alright?" Trini asked, feeling his forehead with the back of her hand and noticed that he was cold and clammy, which was very odd for Jason, except when he was extremely nervous. "You're freezing, what's wrong?"

"Trini, I have a lot of things that I need to tell you about and I'm worried that you won't want those things. I love you so much, Trini and we both know how I waited forever to tell you how I felt about you. I didn't want to scare you by rushing things, since you and Billy had just broken up and for awhile that kept me from thinking about marriage. Then, Tommy was almost killed on that damned island, which made me realize that I needed to get my ass in gear. I didn't want that to happen to us and you not be able to know how I felt about you. Deep down, I knew that this day would come, eventually. What I guess I am trying to tell you is that I don't know how to live life to its fullest, without you being there for me. Now, I know we haven't been together as long as some of our friends, but Trini I just want to know if you would marry me?" Jason asked, as he went down on one knee and revealed to her the ring she had told him she had liked at Sipper's a few months ago. He couldn't have found anything that was more fitting for her and he knew it once he saw it.

"Yes, Jason, yes," Trini said, giving him a hug and then kissing him on the cheek. They both looked over at Ernie, to see him smiling, as Jason let some happy tears stream down his face. Trini had no idea just how happy she had made him, by telling him that she would be his forever. The only thing was, they didn't know how long forever might be or what their other duties might cause that would cause them to never make it there.

AN: Thanks for reading and feel free to review! This chapter kinda ties in some things that will be going on in other stories that are directly related to this series. I hope that you like it!


	24. Tommy, We Have a Problem

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**TrueRomantic:** When they were first dating, he was not willing to spar against her, not now. Sorry I didn't make myself very clear on that one. Well, these guys have to get nervous about something.

**XRachX:** Thank you, I'm glad that you like the chapter and I hope that the beginning of the other story is good for you as well.

**Ghostwriter:** Yeah they kinda have, but nothing is ever as easy as it seems.

Now, on with the Story!

_Tommy, We've Got a Problem _

_Conner's POV _

Well, as rangers, we always hope that the good times will last just a little bit longer and that the bad times will just go away for months, instead of days as they usually wind up doing. But it seems that those good times are often brought to an abrupt halt, as it was again this afternoon. Dr. O's wife, Kim, was taken away from us and I'm not sure how Dr. O is going to take it when he finds out about how everything happened, as the details are pretty sketchy. All we know for sure is that Mesogogg has her and he does not seem too willing to let her go, without us giving up something and it seems that something happens to be our dino gems. That is one thing, though, that we are not very willing to give up at all.

Dr. O has been out of town this week, visiting some school for Principal Randall, which left us one ranger short in the field already. He's getting home this afternoon and this is not the welcome home present that he was expecting from Kim. I'm sure of that much.

We've tried contacting him, but his communicator is on the fritz, which is odd, his always works even when he's in the shower, according to Hayley and Alpha. How they get their information, I'm not sure, but it seems fairly accurate and none of us can afford to not trust what they say about anything in this situation. I am not sure what to expect from Dr. O, but I do know that he is not going to like what happened, while he was away, doing something for Principal Randall no less.

"Kim? Kim, I'm home. Kim, honey, where are you? Beautiful? Hello?" Tommy asked, with some fear in his voice, opening the door and looking around to see supper was on the table, but something was just off inside of his mind and he could only pray that he was imagining things being this way. He had been away all week and had expected her to come running into his arms, but maybe there was trouble in town. That was what it had to be it just couldn't be anything else.

His ranger senses, however, were screaming at him that something was terribly wrong here, but he ignored it for the time being, praying that he was just a little bit jumpy because of how aggressive Mesogogg's attacks had been on them lately. He quickly dropped his suitcase and other various articles of luggage to the floor letting them clatter as they may, sprinted up the stairs, praying that she had just decided to take a bath, and was unable to hear him, but no such luck. Their bathroom and bedroom were empty, from any signs of her being there at all this afternoon; her school clothes weren't lying on the floor or anything like that. It didn't seem to fit into how she usually operated, but it could just be his mind was playing a cruel trick on him.

He then ran back down stairs and saw the shards of a shattered cup scattered across the kitchen floor. This caused his heart to drop to the floor along with the shard and for him to scramble towards the command center door, praying that they had just shocked her and that she was now down there talking and laughing with them. He could not bring himself to think of the other possibility that the glass being dropped could have come from. If what he was thinking was true, then he was about to have one hell of a migraine in the next few minutes, as well as one hell of an emotional roller coaster to deal with.

"Tommy, I've been trying to get in touch with you for the last few hours, but your communicator is on the fritz for some reason. We've got a problem," Hayley said, gravely, as the other rangers and Alpha looked at him, waiting to see his reaction to the carefully planned out statement. They knew that they had to have a plan for what they were going to say to him, as his reaction was bound to not be that good.

It was not good knowing that Richard had just dropped into their kitchen, grabbed her, and left once again, with the command center only being fifteen feet away from him. Tommy didn't really need to know that information, but if he asked, then they would tell all, although it might land some of them in the hospital because of his rough reaction to the truth. They were not sure how he would take it, but from what Alpha had said, it was going to be pretty rough on all of them.

"What type of problem, Hayley?" Tommy asked, trying to keep his voice even, as he watched all of them shudder at the thought of what they were going to have to say to get him to understand all of this.

Alpha and the rangers then took a few steps away from Hayley, as they were still behind her, but they were not as willing to deal with the direct effects of the mood that Tommy was going to be in, in only a matter of seconds. Hayley had volunteered to be the spokesperson, even if that meant dealing with Tommy's wrath head on, which they were sure that she was going to have to do now. She had hoped that he would be calm in the matter, but it seemed that he had already figured out a great deal of the problem and was just waiting for her to tell him what it was.

"Mesogogg has Kim, Tommy, but we have been able to locate her, it's just a matter of getting all of you in. There is a way to get in, but it will probably take all of you to get there, get her, and get back," Hayley said, as she saw Tommy do something, he had never done in front of her until now.

He broke a side table into two pieces, with one single, well-controlled, blow. She knew that he was strong, but that type of action scared her more than anything else that she had ever seen come from him. It proved that he was a ticking time bomb while Kim was taken away from him and that they were dealing with something that they could not control or help in the least bit. There was only one person in this world that could help Tommy and she happened to be the one that was captured by their opponent.

"How fast can I get to her?" Tommy asked, looking up from the destroyed table and all of the rangers could see the pain and anger forming in his eyes, as well as his body.

He needed to be able to do something quickly, otherwise he would begin to lose his mind, and what little bit of common sense that he had left when he was as angry as he was now. His vision had already begun to blur and he knew he was going to have to dig his glasses out of his suitcase, which was still laying on the floor where he had dropped it, so he would be able to see.

If he could not devise some sort of simple plan, then he would be ready to knock everyone out that got in between him and her, even if that meant taking out some of his own rangers in order to get to her sooner. They would not appreciate it, but they were the most likely to understand all of it. He had to get to her, there was not a question in his mind about that.

"It will be a few hours before we can send you in, Tommy. We had to call in the other rangers to help watch out after the Earth while the five of you are gone to deal with him. It'll take them a little while to get here," Hayley said, as Tommy yelled out in frustration before throwing his communicator at a wall and watching it clatter to the ground, lifelessly.

His eyes now filled with tears that were tempting themselves to roll down his cheeks and down his neck. Alpha teetered over to retrieve the communicator, knowing that it was better for Tommy to get his frustrations out now, instead of later, when it could have a horrible effect on his wife and the rest of their team. He had always been a composed leader, but he was now very close to losing all of his legendary composure and plan making skills.

"I need to go now, Hayley. You don't understand what they could be doing to her. I can't let anything else happen to her, because I wasn't able to get there in time. Mesogogg is not going to take things lightly on her. He's probably going to be rougher on her than me because he knows that it will mess with my brain. She's my wife, I have to go now. They can follow when the others get here," Tommy said, as the other rangers backed away from him some more, afraid that he would throw something else, although he had nothing else on his person that he could throw, which was a relief.

They knew how Kim's reaction had been, but they had never expected his reaction to be worse than hers. This was Dr. O and he was supposed to have things under control, at all times, but this was one thing that he couldn't control. No matter how hard he tried, his emotions were taking over faster than he could control them and this was the one person that he loved more than life itself that they were talking about. If it had been one of the other rangers, he would have been mad and wanted to go get them, but he would not be so angry that he could barely think and that was exactly what he was right now.

"Tommy, if something shows up we'll send you in, but until then we are waiting for the others to get here. We can't risk you dying out there too. She is experienced in this and she can hold her own until we can safely get you in and out of there," Hayley said, as she heard Alpha begin punching something in on the panel behind her and she couldn't help but wonder what the robot was doing. They had not been able to get in contact with the other rangers, but Hayley was sure that it wouldn't take them much longer to talk to them, even if Tommy didn't agree with it right now.

"Hayley, if she isn't morphed, she's as good as gone right now, everything that they do to her could kill her. She's strong, but if she can't fight back, we can not sit here and act as if he is going to do nothing to her because she cannot protect herself. Alpha, teleport them here, now," Tommy said, as there were flashes of light appearing almost as soon as the last word was muttered around the command center. Alpha knew that Tommy had been thinking in that direction, as soon as he threw his communicator at the wall.

They may not have had their powers any longer, but they could still be teleported to wherever they needed to teleport them to be. As the faces of the old, veteran, rangers appeared, they all seemed confused as to why they were being brought there, but most of them got the picture once they saw Tommy's face. Something horrible had happened that day and it seemed that terrible thing had something to do with Kim and they all knew what that meant for Tommy's mental well being until they were able to get her back.

"What's going on?" Rocky asked, as he pulled at his karate gi out of nervous habit, as he had just finished teaching a class when he felt himself being teleported somewhere, although he was thankful that he had been in his office when that happened. Something just didn't seem good about all of this and he wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer to his question, not by the way that Tommy was looking at him and the others, trying to get everything across in one look. They knew what it meant, but they did not want to have to deal with it.

"Bro, what's wrong?" Jason asked, as Tommy turned to face him and he could see what it was by looking at his eyes, but was only praying that it really wasn't that again. Not now at least.

"They have her, don't they?" Adam asked quietly, as Trini, Aisha, and Kat gasped and Trini started to cry as well. This was her best friend and she did not want something to happen to her. All of them had been in trouble before, but this was the first time that some of them had ever dealt with it being Kim that was taken away from them so violently.

"No, Tommy. That can't be true, it's something else, isn't it? It has to be something else," Trini murmured, clinging to Jason who was semi-transfixed in his spot, knowing that he needed to try to calm Trini down. The two of them were the closest to her, next to Tommy and it was not good for either of them, but they would have to be calm in order to hope that Tommy could keep some sanity in his veins.

Katherine looked at Tommy and saw the same face he had, had when Divatox captured Kim, right before they got their turbo powers. She knew that she had made the right choice all those years ago, just by the look on his face and now she was here to help all that she could. She knew that she might not have been chosen for some missions the others had gone on, but there was a reason that she had become a ranger and now she felt as if it was time she pulled her weight as a veteran ranger.

The young ones were scared to death at how Tommy was acting, but they might be able to help them out, somehow. If only they could get over the shock of seeing Dr. O truly, lose his cool. Tommy would be able to get himself back to normal, if they would give him some space and a little bit of time to let the truth sink in. The truth, however, was the last thing that he really wanted to know about right now.

"Please, send me now, Hayley. I can't let them hurt her anymore than they already have. I take full responsibility for whatever happens to me, just let me go," Tommy begged as Hayley and Alpha looked at him and then looked away, before they really considered doing that for him.

They were not the ones that could calm him down, but they were the ones that could send him to where Kim was and that was where he wanted to be at the moment. He hadn't thought out a game plan, but that didn't matter, he had to keep things from happening to her. He had promised that and much more on his wedding day and he didn't really want to break that promise to her.

"Tommy, it is too dangerous for us to do that now. We do not know what you would be going into and even you need to know that. We can not put her in any more danger of getting caught in the cross fire of battle. We will get her back, but you have to be patient with us," Alpha said, as one of the screens crackled to life, grabbing everyone's attention. They knew what it was going to be, in all likelihood, although the new rangers were confused, until they recognized who was on the screen, and they knew what that meant for them.

"Well, well Thomas Oliver, you weren't able to stop me this time, were you? You see that we have your precious little wife now, shame she didn't take Richard's offer earlier, then you would have already dealt with this," Mesogogg said, as he moved out of the way to where Tommy could get a full view of Kim strapped to the table, still conscious and very much aware of what was being said to him. She didn't look to have been harmed, but she was rather pale and that did worry him. Anything could have happened to cause that and he just hoped that she was scared. "You know what I can do to people and you sure don't want precious little Kimberly here to die because of it, now do you? If you ever want to see her, come, alone, with the dino gems and we'll see if she won't, magically, appear back on your side."

"Tommy, don't listen to him!" Kim yelled, as Mesogogg slapped her across the face, but she still continued to beg Tommy. The slap stung, but she did not want him risking their powers for her life. She could get herself out of it, someway. She knew that she might strain herself, but it would be worth it if it somehow protected the others. "It's a trick, baby, don't listen to him! Tommy, I can make it!"

"Shut up," Richard said, walking into the picture, causing Tommy's face to pale considerably, as he clutched the back of the chair in front of him.

Richard then reached out a hand and placed it on Kim's cheek, which caused Tommy to lose the remaining strength, he had in his legs, as his knees crashed into the floor, but no pain registered in his mind, as he could only focus on the screen. He was now kneeling behind the chair, tears rolling down his face, as he watched Kim try to shake the man's hand away from her face without making him angry. Jason and Trini exchanged a glance before Tommy began speaking to Mesogogg, knowing exactly what he would say to him.

"I'll do whatever you want, just don't hurt her and don't let him lay another hand on her," Tommy said, staring at Kim as she was trying to hide how afraid she was of Richard.

The Dino rangers thought that Tommy had completely lost his mind, but Mesogogg just agreed with his surrender to him. The young rangers did not know what the older ones had in mind, but they were not going to give up their powers without one hell of a fight, even if it was with their fellow rangers.

"Meet me at the pier at seven, sharp. Don't be late Tommy," Mesogogg said, as Tommy nodded his head, in recognition that he had heard, before the transmission went bad. He did not like the way that this sounded, but he knew exactly what he was going to do, to try to keep the powers and get her back.

"You're giving him our powers that easily, Dr. O?" Conner asked, outraged at how easily Dr. O was giving up on them and everything they had worked for since the school year began.

He had been the one to instill in them the importance of hanging on just a little bit longer, knowing that eventually Mesogogg would back down, but he wasn't playing that game this time. However, when Tommy turned around, he got the idea that he had stepped well over the line this time, as Tommy started walking towards him.

"Yes, I'm a complete idiot Conner and I am going to give away everything I have been trying to protect!" Tommy bellowed, now standing toe to toe with the boy and he felt Jason grab his arm and try to pull him away, but he shrugged it off with little effort on his part. He wanted to make sure that Conner got the point loud and clear this time, because if he was dumb enough to ask him questions, things would not turn out good for Conner and he did not want to injure a fellow ranger during his fury. Then he would have a lot to explain to Kim when he got her back. "We've done this before, but you, Kira, Ethan, and Trent have to just trust me, understand that?"

"Yeah, Dr. O," Conner said, as Tommy took a step away and Conner let out a breath that he had no clue that he had been holding.

He knew that he had only experienced a small part of Tommy's full wrath and did not want to be the one to experience the rest of it, not right now at least. If someone had asked him to predict which teacher at school was likely to be the one that would be harshest to cross when mad, Dr. O would not have even come to his mind, not until he had thought about it for a very long time. Then he would have appeared to be the worst, but only because he knew him outside of the school house walls.

"Jason," Tommy said, as Jason walked over to him, knowing that he was going to make some sort of request out of him. Tommy was now thinking the way he had thought when he was the leader of the rangers and that was scary, if you asked any that he had led. He always had good ideas, but they were the types of ideas that usually involved one or two people and left the rest of them watching. "You didn't happen to keep your last morpher, did you?"

"Yeah, it's right here," Jason said, pulling it out to where Tommy could see the empty case. All of them still carried their morphers around, even if they were only pieces of plastic now, they still were something that they would need, when the fateful day came to defeat Mesogogg. They all doubted that today was that day, but they were going to be needed for whatever type of plan Tommy had cooked up, which was more than a tiny bit odd. "You didn't think I'd throw it away, did you?"

"We don't have much time, but I need you to get the box and get your powers back. The dino gems will stay with you and we'll only give them up as a last resort. I'm sure that between the two of us we will be able to get her, somehow," Tommy said, as he saw Billy move to retrieve the box from its hiding place under one of the panels. Jason didn't even have a second thought as he hurriedly began digging out his shards of glass, knowing that Billy and Alpha would hurriedly prepare the morpher for him, as he was not refusing the opportunity to suit back up.

"We're coming with you, Dr. O," Kira said, as Aisha grabbed her and quickly pulled her out of Tommy's range of fire. Tommy could only stare at the girl for what she had stated to him. Jason going was risky enough, if all of the others showed up, he knew that they might kill her right away and he did not want to risk that. She meant more to him than anyone else that he had ever known and he didn't want to risk things going wrong. "She's one of us, too and we should go with you."

"Look, the more of us that we bring in, the more we risk something happening to Kim. I can't do that. I cannot risk her anymore than I have already," Tommy said, as they watched Tommy cry while cradling Kim's old, useless, power coin in his hands, as he had happened to have seen it one day and he took it and placed it in his wallet, for safe keeping. He could barely hold it anymore and when he finally dropped it, Kat was the one to pick it up and place it back in his hands, making sure he had a firm grip on it before she let go of his hands.

"Tommy, promise that you'll let them come in if things go bad," Kat said, as the others nodded their heads in agreement.

They didn't want just the two of them risking their lives if it was as bad as they thought it would be. Mesogogg was not one to laugh about; he meant business, no matter what he doing to them. Tommy looked around at them, hoping someone would agree with him, but saw that he was defeated in their eyes, which meant he had not choice but to concede on his own wishes for their well being.

"I don't know if I can risk anyone else," Tommy said, as they all wondered what he was talking about. This didn't seem to have anything to do with Kim and they were surprised that he had been able to shift his focus away from her at all. "I'm already risking my wife's life, I can't risk some of my best friends' too."

"We better get going, Tommy. We don't want to be late," Jason said, as he morphed and the four young rangers looked at him, in awe. They couldn't help but be shocked at how natural he looked in that red suit. They had never thought they would be lucky enough to see any of the other original rangers in uniform, but now they were, even if it wasn't for a very good reason. "I'm going to teleport in a few minutes after you're gone. If things are bad, I'm calling the others in Tommy. I know that you aren't going to be looking out for yourself, so we have to."

"Okay, Jase, but I've got to get to her," Tommy said, as he prepared himself to teleport to the pier. He was not planning to play around with Mesogogg, if Kim was not there, his morpher wouldn't so much as budge from his wrist. He knew that Kim could take care of herself for a little bit longer, if it came down to that, no matter how much he hated to admit it.

"You actually came," Mesogogg said, as Tommy saw Kim tied up in ropes, which securely held her down to an old crate that teetered perilously close to the edge of the pier. He wanted to make a break for her, but if they were going to be able to keep their powers, then he would have to buy his time until Jason arrived and he had seen the relief on her face when he saw her, so he could only pray that she would be able to hold out a little bit longer. She did have some bruises and cuts from what he could see, but those would heal quickly if he still remembered how their powers worked. "Too bad, I never really planned to let either of you live through this. Tryadrones, attack."

When Jason arrived on the scene, the battle had already overwhelmed Tommy, but he could see Kim struggling to break the ropes that she was bound in. He really hoped that he wouldn't have to call in the reinforcements, but he didn't have much choice in the matter. There was no way the two of them could handle this alone and they couldn't risk Kim dying or being taken away from Tommy again. He had to call the other rangers, no matter how much he knew Tommy did not want him to do that.

AN: I know that this chapter is really short, as well and I can not promise that they will get longer, as I am only about six chapters or less away from the end of this story. Yes, there is a third story in this series, but I have one story I need to post in between, to help set up the third one some more, so please be patient with me. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to have the new one out soon. Review if you want and for those of you who don't thanks for reading!


	25. Battling Mesogogg Into Submission

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**jedi4jesus19:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you like the last chapter!

Now, on with the Story!

_Battling Mesogogg Into Submission _

_Kira's POV _

We arrived on the scene of this battle expecting for Jason and Dr. O to be in serious trouble and they were, which was not what we had hoped for in the back of our minds, although it was what we thought would be happening to them. Jason's call was not exactly the nicest thing than any of us have ever heard, but I understand why he selected the strong language that he did. I can't believe the amount of tryadrones that Mesogogg has deployed to try to keep Dr. O from getting to Kim, which only made me more furious about this whole situation.

She really had done nothing to deserve this, other than take on the mantle of being our pink ranger and being Dr. O's wife, which seemed to have more to do with it than her being a ranger, as it seemed that they just wanted to play with Dr. O's mind some more. They have figured out that if they are able to get him unstable, then they have a good chance of him not making a plan that actually works against them. Elsa, Mesogogg, Zeltrax, and Richard are all here, with Richard guarding Kim, although Dr. O has managed to work his way closer to Kim, but I have the feeling that he won't be comforted until she is in his arms, being teleported back to the command center and their home. If something happens to her, I am sure that he will go on a rampage and that is not a very good thing for all of us.

Trent and Conner were the first to sprint off to help them while Ethan and myself lured some of the tryadrones away from the massive army of them, as we knew it would be best to split them up. Although that meant, we were splitting ourselves up as well, which was not something we really wanted to do. We had to have each others backs, but the real priority was to get rid of the tryadrones.

We weren't doing all that great ourselves, so I noticed, immediately, when the other former rangers teleported in. Namely, because they landed only a few feet away from us and didn't seem to skip a beat in helping us and defeating some of the tryadrones, like they were pros at it. Which I guess that you can say that they are, after all of the years that they have done this, come to think of it.

"Thanks for the help," Trent said, as Zack blocked a tryadrone from blindsiding him, which was something they did not really want Tommy to have to worry about. If another ranger went down, the black ranger might lose his mind and that was not something that they wanted to see happen.

The older rangers knew that they were out numbered, almost as badly as when they had defeated Nicarni-Aso and that gave them some confidence to do what was needed to be done here. Their past experiences were what let them have the confidence that the younger rangers were lacking right now, but they would hopefully get as this fight went on and the tryadrones were destroyed. If they did not, then they might have to send them back to the command center, to wait out the rest of the battle. They knew that they wanted to help, but if they did not start fighting the way that they were known to do, then there were going to be problems.

"Anytime. We have to look out for each other," Zack responded, as he continued to keep two of the tryadrones busy, knowing that they were playing with borrowed time.

Jason had, already, been given back his powers, which made it obvious it was only a matter of time before they got them back as well. They knew that their day was coming, they had only hoped that it would have been a little bit further down the road, but even now, Alpha was standing by with a temporary morpher, in case they needed to be connected to their powers for awhile and they very well might have to be tonight. The situation just seemed to go from bad to worse as Mesogogg did not move more than ten feet away from Kim and that was not enough room for any of them to get in and get out with her and not be risking their own life, as well as hers.

"Sweethearts, you must be getting exhausted without those nice little powers to help you," Elsa said, as Trini and Aisha took hold of the woman and insured her of the fact that they were not exhausted, but furious at her for everything she had done to their friends.

They could see that Kim was still tied up and they could only pray that Mesogogg would not take her away again. If he did that, then they knew that Hayley and Alpha would have no choice but to teleport, Tommy straight to wherever she was taken or he would try to do it himself and that was a dangerous proposition to have to deal with. He was utterly furious about all of this, but he was the only one that seemed to be making a good bit of headway on his opponent.

"You should learn that you can't judge people by how they look," Aisha said, as Elsa scrambled away from them, scared at what they could do, even without their legendary powers to help them out. She had been under the preconceived notion that Tommy and Kim were the only skilled, older rangers left out there that would possibly even try to battle them, but now she was getting to meet eight more of them, which she did not like at all. The older ones were even a bigger threat than she remembered and they all seemed positively pissed at all of them.

"Jason! Get Richard!" Tommy yelled, as he was able to break free of the tryadrones and headed straight towards Kim, without having a second thought cross his mind, as all he wanted to do was get to her and get her the hell out of this place. However, before he had been able to take two steps in her direction, Zeltrax stepped in front of him, silently challenging him to another duel between the two, one in which Kim's life was on the line if he did not agree to take him up on it. He was becoming desperate at this point, as he tried to appeal to the man that he once knew, but it proved itself fruitless. "I don't have time for this Todd, that's my wife. I know that there is a human in there somewhere, listen to me and just let me go get her, then you can do whatever you want to, to me."

"No, there is no human part of me left but, we can do this now or allow her to die sooner. What's your choice?" Zeltrax asked. While Tommy noticed Richard holding his hands ready to send a direct pulse from himself to Kim, if he needed to, but she was fully prepared for it.

She might not have been able to morph, but the powers did still protect her some. Although she knew that she would do better the closer that Tommy and Jason got to her, as she was drawing from them as much as she could without putting them in danger and was almost sure that they could feel it, if they tuned into their bodies long enough. She had thought that their connection would go away once Tommy switched colors, again, but it still seemed to be there and she was thankful for that.

"Brachio staff. Zeltrax, you can't say that I didn't warn you this time," Tommy said, as he spun his weapon around and took his defensive stance against him.

Zeltrax couldn't help but shudder when he saw Tommy with a weapon that he had a great deal of expertise with, but Mesogogg would not let him run away, as he so desperately wanted to do. He now wielded a sword, as well as, a shield, but Tommy did not imagine it would be able to stop him from doing what he wanted to. He was determined to get to Kim, as soon as he could, with or without help from the other rangers. As the minutes passed by, he knew that the situation would get more dire and he did not want to be a witness to her death because he did not get there in time.

"Confident, aren't we?" Zeltrax asked, as he tried to strike Tommy, but soon found himself flying in the air towards a stack of crates and the brick wall that was built behind those crates.

He had only thought that Tommy meant business the last time they had messed with Kim, but this time was going to be even worse on him. He had only made a full recovery a few weeks ago and was not sure that going up against Tommy was a wise idea, but no one else was stepping up to try to keep him from getting to his wife. So it looked like it was just him and Dr. Oliver right now and it definitely seemed that he was going to be on the losing end of this battle, no matter how hard he tried to block Tommy's advances.

"Your husband is doing well. But I still don't know if I am going to let you make it out of here alive, beautiful," Mesogogg said, using the nickname that he had learned Tommy had give her, as he brushed a scaly hand down the side of her face, leaving some scratches.

Those scratches were barely noticeable for a few seconds and then they became red from the blood that was trying to escape them. She tried to shrug away from him, but she felt the crate tip towards the bay and righted herself as quickly as she could. If she allowed the crate to tip over the edge, there would be no question what the consequence would be for her. Richard then prepared a pulse for Tommy and the others in his vicinity, although Kim was able to pick up on it, but not in time to get them out of the line of fire.

"Tommy, watch out!" Kim yelled, only a few seconds before the pulse hit him and she heard a yell that she had not heard from Tommy in a long time. The gut wrenching pain that the pulse must have carried with it, caused him to be thrown into the air, but he did seem to fair the best out of most of their friends, as he was the only one that could really tap into his full powers without harming himself. "Damn it! Don't take it out on him, take it out on me! He hasn't done anything to you!"

"Pretty baby, what I want to do to you would kill him faster than these pulses that I control, you know that," Richard said, resting his hand on her knee and he felt her shudder at his touch.

She knew that it was time for her to try to get away, as Richard was deathly serious about what he was talking about. Her morpher laid just out of her reach and she only prayed that she would have enough energy to get the weapon that she needed without being morphed, as she had only attempted something like this when morphed and she had even had a power booster then.

"Tommy, how are we going to do this?" Jason asked, as he stood up from Richard's pulse and centered himself towards the end of the pier, where Richard and Mesogogg stood, daring them to try to overtake them, as they would surely kill Kim if they tried it right now. Some of the unmorphed rangers were just now lifting their heads off the ground, to slowly stand, more determined than ever. Mesogogg had no idea who he was dealing with this time and it was time that he learned the full lesson of what it was like to go up against the Power Rangers, at their best.

"It's going to be like old times," Tommy said, as the older rangers knew what that meant. Alpha was going to be giving them a temporary connection to their old powers, so that they would be able to defeat Mesogogg for long enough to get Kim and get him to leave. Then they would give them back and begin preparing themselves for the final battle that would be coming sometime in the near future.

"Kat, listen to me," Adam said, as she stood next to him and continued to glare at Richard. She could not believe what this man was doing and she wanted to make him pay, by herself, but that was not possible. She had not connection to any old powers that could still be used and she was going to have to fight without them for a long time, unless something happened to change that. "You know what has to be done, don't you?"

"Yeah, we can take care of the tryadrones. You guys focus on getting to her. We can't lose any rangers tonight," Kat said, as they both ducked in order to avoid being hit by a tryadrone.

Adam then gave her a kiss and joined the guys that were already flanking Tommy and Jason's sides, just as they had done some many times in the past and would possibly do in the future. This job was never going to just let them go, but that was all right, they had known this when they started it. They had just never imagined that it would have been like this.

"What are they doing?" Kira asked, while handling a tryadrone with little difficulty. She noticed that their numbers had been greatly diminished and there were no more tryadrones coming into replace the ones that had been defeated. She, however, had the sinking feeling that this could not be the final battle. It was all too simple for this to be the end of it all. Mesogogg would get away and then who knew what they would be waiting for.

"Getting Kim back," Aisha said, as the more experienced male rangers stood in a line, waiting for Alpha to give them the powers. To the younger rangers, they looked as if they were preparing themselves for something that they had not done in a long time. They were going to morph, although the Dino Rangers had no idea how they could do that without so much as having a morpher on them.

"They won't be able to without some type of powers. Don't we need to help them?" Conner asked, as suits began materializing on the four, unmorphed, men. He was shocked that they had been able to do that, but now Mesogogg had to deal with six, pissed off, grown men. He could not imagine this turning out good for Mesogogg, as their combined experience in this business beat Mesogogg's staff by more than fifty years, easily.

"Don't worry about them, Conner. Just worry about defeating these tryadrones, then we can go help them," Trini said, as she saw Jason turn his helmeted face towards them before turning his full attention back to Mesogogg and his goons.

If something were to happen to him, she would be fine, as she knew exactly where she stood with him right now, not like the last time that he had done battle with something like this. She had been a wreck while she watched him battle the asoriods and amephors, but they had somehow been able to hold out until they got there and that was a small miracle in itself.

"You have any ideas, Tommy?" Zack asked, as he noticed the other black ranger was not acting like his normally composed self, right now, from the frustration he was feeling at not being able to get to Kim already.

Zeltrax was headed towards Tommy and none of the others seemed to think it was a good idea to get in either one of their ways. Zeltrax and Tommy seemed to have something that they needed to settle between the two of them and they were quite all right to let it stay that way, unless things got really bad.

"Yeah, each one of you gets a goon and those that are left, make a break for Kim and Richard," Tommy said, as Zeltrax swung his sword at him and missed. Tommy then landed a kick to his head and he rocked back and forth from the blow, having expected Tommy to only use his weapons, not his body this time. Tommy no longer cared about his own body, he just wanted someone to get to her. "But I have to warn you that she is more susceptible to those blasts when she's not morphed. If he threatens to blast her, don't risk it. We'll figure out some other way to get to her, even if it does take us longer."

"Don't worry, Tommy, we'll get her," Rocky said, as he dodged out of Jason and Elsa's path, which was heading closer to the pier with each passing second.

"Jason Scott, right?" Elsa asked, turning on every type of flirtation that she could, in hopes of distracting the ranger. He was a man after all, most men could not take this type of flirtation without losing their senses, and she was betting that he was like that, although she could not have been more wrong.

The red ranger could only glare at her from under his helmet, as she placed a hand, gently, on his chest, which disgusted him even more. He grabbed her hand and then, gently, slung her out of the way. They were determined now and did not care what type of damage they had to do to Mesogogg's forces, but all Mesogogg could think was that these old, ancient, rangers were risking themselves. He did not know what type of danger he and his staff was in by causing them to have to morph and fight against them.

"Yep, but you probably won't be able to remember that in the morning," Jason said, as she stumbled around from the blow that he had placed on her.

She was desperately trying to focus her powers toward him, but she found that they had been increasingly weakened as the night went on. She knew that they would not be able to hold them off for very long and even Richard could only deal out so many pulses before he was completely drained of his powers. She didn't like to admit it, but their back was up against the wall this time and she did not think that they would be able to fight their way out of it without some great loss being suffered.

"That sounds like a threat, red," Elsa said, slinging Jason down and was surprised when she was hit by something very similar to the laser gun that Kim wielded under normal circumstances, but that was impossible, as she was still tied up.

She, obviously, had not heard of what Kim had been able to do to Nicarni-Aso, with Jason and Tommy's powers a few years ago, which made them even happier that they had not done any research on them. It served them right if they didn't even bother to find out what they were really up against.

"Kim, just to let you know, it works both ways!" Jason yelled, as he could imagine the look on Tommy's face under the newest helmet of his, if he had even heard it, which he had. The two of them had just managed to double their powers without using the power boosters, which was a wonderful thing to have happen.

"Good, but don't drain her too much, Jase," Tommy said, as Zeltrax and Elsa exchanged a glance, before each receiving a blow that was much more than they expected to come from the person that they were fighting.

Mesogogg had not told them to retreat and just take Kim with them, so they could regroup some and possibly lure the rangers onto their turf, where they would have the advantage. They now had to continue to fight; even though they were not sure that it was the best thing for their cause, as life threatening injuries were now becoming a very real possibility.

"Just a little bit more," Kim muttered, as she tried to scoot herself closer to Richard without toppling the crate she was strapped to and causing him to notice what she held in her hands. She had managed to acquire a fire bulb, but now she was having to wait until Richard placed himself in the best place for her to hit him with it. Then he would be hit and hopefully knocked out by the blast. She knew that she would get some of the affects, but Richard was already pushing his powers and would not be able to do that for much longer.

"Rocky, you go on that side. Adam and I will take the other," Billy said, as they were sneaking closer to Kim, Richard, and Mesogogg.

"I'll get Richard," Rocky said, as they nodded in agreement that would be the best way to go about it. It would take two of them to take care of Mesogogg and get to Kim, before they could even think about getting her away from them.

"Tommy, aren't you ever going to grow up and quit this job?" Zeltrax asked, as they heard an explosion in the background, which distracted Zeltrax long enough for Tommy and Zack to make a clean break towards Kim and the now impaired Richard. She was shaking that she had actually gone through with it, but she had no choice. She knew that if she went back to Mesogogg's lair, she would likely be killed, and that just could not happen.

"What was that?" Mesogogg asked, as Richard was now sprawled out on the ground, unconscious and injured to the point of hospitalization, although that was not an option for him.

The blast had singed off Kim's ropes, although she had somehow managed to not get burned by the flames, as they seemed to know that they were not intended to harm her, but to harm only one person. She now laid on the crates, motionless, as she prayed that the guys would hurry and get to her. She had been able to grab her morpher and was now clutching it in her hands, readying herself if she had to quickly place it on her wrist and morph, which was something she was not very sure that she could do anymore with how much she had strained her own powers in order to get that one fire bulb.

"He doesn't know how to use the powers you gave him," Kim muttered, as he swung himself around to face her, in time for Adam and Billy to jump out of the covered space and tackle him to the ground.

Mesogogg kicked the crate Kim was on, pushing it over the edge, but Rocky was able to grab Kim's hand before she went over with it. He then pulled her up and carried her out of there, as quickly as he could. Tommy and Zack saw him carrying her and relief washed over both of them, knowing that she was away from Mesogogg now. Tommy then fell to his knees and cried under the protection of his helmet, happy that she was safely back with them.

"You still have to take care of the tryadrones, Elsa, and Zeltrax," Kim said, as Rocky, carefully, placed her on the ground.

She had not known how drained she was, until she had to try to support her own weight and she could not, as she crumpled to the ground, with Tommy catching her before her head hit the ground. She knew that she had strained her powers to get that one fire bulb, but it had helped her get away from them and now Billy and Adam were heading their way. She felt Tommy's grip that he had on her and felt that he was shaking, although he was trying to cover it as much as he could. He was upset, but it would be all right as soon as they could get home and he could let his emotions out, without worrying about it costing someone their life.

"You gonna be able to do this?" Tommy asked, as he had to manage to somehow recompose himself until they were able to get back home. Then he would truly be able to break down in happy tears and take her away from the world for a few hours, if she would only let him do that.

"Yeah, just let me morph, Tommy. I should be alright after that," Kim said, as Jason flew past them with Zeltrax following close behind him.

She knew that being morphed would re-energize her some, but it was hard to deal with all of it. She couldn't help but be happy that Tommy was there and he would watch out for her, somehow, if he had his way, but she did know that there were times when he did not get his way and that bad things could happen. The way that things were going right now, she was not surprised that more bad things had not happened to her already and that was one thing that she could be grateful for.

"She got away!" Mesogogg roared, as he had not seen the other ranger come in and carry her out, before the other rangers left him alone.

He looked around and noticed that Richard still remained unconscious and had multiple injuries, which was almost a guarantee after what Kim had been able to do to him. Zeltrax was now staggering around but he was having to deal with Tommy which was never a good thing for him, as he was sure to be seriously injured if this went on much longer. Elsa was going after Kim but for the ranger to have been through all that he had put her through, she was fighting fairly well. He then looked to see where the tryadrones were, but they were no where to be found, which only meant one thing, he would have to rebuild his entire army of tryadrones. He also knew that the longer they stayed there, the more of a chance he was running at losing it all, in one fight.

"Thank God," Jason muttered, as he saw Elsa doing almost anything she wanted to against Kim, although she had been able to get in some hard blows. He still could not believe that she was able to do that, but he knew that it was better than she being laid in the command center's infirmary was because she was unconscious.

"Well, pinkie, why didn't you just do this earlier?" Elsa asked, as Kim held her away from her body and then tossed her towards Zeltrax.

She was feeling more tired as the seconds went by and she knew that it was only a matter of time before she truly begged Tommy to let her go home. All she wanted to do right now was crawl into her bed and go to sleep, next to her husband, but they never asked her what she wanted. Although Tommy would probably teleport her there himself, if he thought it would help her at all.

"Kim, watch out!" Rocky yelled, as Richard had woken up and now wanted to get even with Kim. The pulse struck her before she was even able to turn around and face Rocky. She felt herself falling to the ground and she looked up to see the dark, night's sky. Before everything went blank in her mind, she heard a barely audible scream that came from Tommy, as he watched her be injured, which was one of the things that she had prayed would never happen to her while she was fighting.

AN: I know it's a cliffhanger and I know that this is a rather short chapter for this story. I'm sorry, I'm going to try to make the next chapter longer, but there is only so much you can do with these scenes and I wanted to try to spread it out. If you hate it this way, I'm sorry, but I'm going to try to get the next chapter out soon. Review if you want and if you don't want to, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! I hate to say this but it'll be a few weeks before the next chapter, I'm not going to be at home, so I hope you really did like this chapter.


	26. Tommy's Pain

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**Daisyz:** Well, this is the soonest that I could get it out. I hope that it hasn't been too long of a wait for all of you.

**XRachX:** I'm glad you think so and sorry for the delay between chapters.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks and I hope that you enjoy this one.

**secretguest:** I hope this is soon enough and that you'll enjoy this chapter!

Now, on with the Story!

**Tommy's Pain **

_Tommy's POV_

I watched as my wife fell to the ground from a pulse that had obviously been cast by Richard towards her and I knew, deep down, that although the tryadrones were gone, we still had to deal with these idiots and their ever weakening powers for a little while longer. One thing that I have learned while doing all of this, is just because their powers are weaker, it does not mean that the person's spirits are, as even I have gone through that one a couple of times before and it is not fun.

I was praying, as I watched, that she would stand up and shrug it off, as she had done so many times before when Richard had knocked her to the ground with one of those pulses. As the seconds passed, I knew that she was not going to stand up under her own power and that she would stay there until one of us teleported her out of here and back to the command center where Hayley and Alpha could, hopefully, help her.

My mind was trying to tell me to remain calm, that she would be fine. We'd get her to Billy and Alpha and they would take care of her. It was just that she had, had a rough few hours and that she was already pretty drained from that and the fact that she had somehow gotten a fire bulb had taxed her as well. She had survived much worse than being hit by one pulse of energy. Hell, she even defeated Nicarni-Aso by herself with basically no reserves left inside her body. She'd be fine, she just would.

My heart, however, won, as it was telling me to go after Richard and make him pay for the pain that she was feeling right now and the gut wrenching feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. I tossed Zeltrax out of the way, leaving another dent in his armor and was heading straight for Richard before Jason stopped me, which probably saved my life this time. Richard seemed to be just as mad as I was and it would not do Kim any good if I died, trying to make myself feel like I got revenge with this man. There will be time for that later, if I am just able to be patient and wait for that time to arise.

"We're getting her out of here, Tommy," Jason said, as he watched Rocky pick her limp body up and teleport back to the command center, faster than he had ever seen Rocky do something before, as he knew how serious the situation was.

He could tell that Tommy desperately wanted to leave the battle and go be with Kim, as he felt responsible, but he was needed there more than anyone could imagine. Although Jason was willing to tell him to leave them as soon as he muttered one word that he wanted to go be with her. Kim was what had gotten Tommy through hard times before, but he was never himself when something like this happened and none of them were too sure how he was going to react, besides the rage that was normal for him to experience at this time.

"That's a good thing," Tommy said, as his mind had not moved off of getting revenge for what Richard had done to Kim since she had hit the ground and Jason could tell it. Jason had, had to talk Tommy out of doing some crazy things before, but he could only hope that he was still able to do that now, as Tommy did not seem like he wanted to be swayed on this one.

"Tommy, don't get yourself in that condition, too. She's gonna need you when she wakes up and you don't need to be laying on the gurney next to her when she does. You'll be able to get revenge later, lets just worry about getting these things out of here first. We can worry about payback next time," Jason said, as Tommy sighed and then placed his gloved hand over the face of his helmet, before acknowledging how right Jason was.

She would need him when she woke up from this, just like he so desperately needed her by his side right now. If only he had never done a lot of things over the last year, then she probably wouldn't have landed in the situation she was in right now, but he could not concentrate on those types of thoughts, for the time being.

He had to remain here to fight off Zeltrax, Elsa, Richard, and Mesogogg, but hopefully they would get the idea that they were not going to win, sometime soon and just leave them the hell alone. So, he could go be with her and not feel guilty about leaving the rangers without him, as he knew that he could only stay out there for so long before the stress would get to him and then they would just be a ranger short, as he would no longer be any good in the field.

"I have to fight, you of all people should know that, Jase," Tommy said, as Richard sent a pulse towards him, but he somehow managed to block it from having any affect on him, whatsoever. Which he was surprised about, but he had always been able to do odd things when he was mad with a particular person, especially if that person had harmed someone that he loved.

When Mesogogg noticed that the black ranger did not so much as stumble from the blast that Richard had dealt to him, he became worried that his plan was truly failing him this time. He had only heard, in passing, how formidable the black ranger could be when pissed off and he was unfortunate enough to see it in action, for the first time, now. He knew that if he wanted to save what forces he had left, they had to leave immediately and that would mean admitting defeat, once again to the rangers. He already had enough to rebuild and there was no way he could find more henchmen, as the three of them had been hard to find in the first place.

"We'll see you again, Oliver," Mesogogg said, opening an invisaportal and his troops quickly dove through it, knowing if they were unlucky enough to not make it through, their fate would not be a pleasant one. Tommy and the other rangers would take care of them, without so much as a second thought as to what they were doing to them.

They had made the mistake of drawing the older and wiser rangers' back into duty and they were going to pay for that mistake in every way that they could imagine. It had never been in the plan to get them involved, to such an extent, that they would be there for the final battle, but it seemed that they had just done that without even thinking about it. Now, not only did they have to rebuild their troops, but also they had to make a new plan that would work against so many trained rangers.

"Tommy, go. We'll clean things up here," Adam said, as they powered down and looked at the mess in front of them. Crates were destroyed, some things were still on fire, although it had dwindled out for the most part, and even some parts of the pier had been destroyed, but this could all be fixed with a little bit of work.

Their friend's life couldn't be if something had happened to her and they could only pray that it hadn't, as Rocky had not teleported back to give them a progress report yet. She had not looked to be in her best condition, but they could only hope that it would wear off soon, that she would be back to her normal self, and that Tommy would be able to just give her a hug and not worry about hurting her with his touch. That was what he needed to do, in order to feel that she forgave him for not being able to stop it, although they all knew that Kim wouldn't blame him for what happened in the least bit. She knew what could happen and would tell him so if he pressed the issue very far.

"Thanks," Tommy said, grasping his wrist and teleporting himself to the command center, not knowing what to expect to see there. He could only hope that she was in a semi-conscious state already, although he was fairly certain that she was far from that, as she had not even stirred in the field.

She usually would move some after something like that happened, before she fainted, but this time, she just didn't and that honestly scared him to death. He didn't want to face the fear that there was nothing that Hayley and Alpha could do and that they would have to take her to the hospital. If that happened, then they were going to have to come up with one good lie to cover it all or they might even have to tell a partial portion of the truth, if it came to that.

"We're going to clean up? Why in the world would we do that?" Conner asked, surprised, as Dr. O had never asked them to do this before, and they had, had some ugly problems, where more than part of a pier was destroyed by the battle that they fought in.

He wanted to go check on Mrs. Oliver, but the other, older, rangers seemed to think it was best to keep them away for a little while, even if they didn't like doing that, which made no sense to him. Why would they keep themselves away from a place that they felt they needed to be at? She was their friend as well, so why didn't they want to see her right away? Why did they want to stay away?

"Yes, Conner and we're also giving Tommy some time to get some of the stress out of his system. Trust me, you don't want to see him when he first sees how she is right now. He's not going to be anything like the teacher that you know so well," Jason said, as Rocky teleported back in, to signify Tommy was there with her now and hopefully everything would work out alright. None of them liked the look on Rocky's face, but they just hoped it was because of the battle that they had gone through over the last few hours and not because of how Kim was doing.

"How is she, Rocky?" Kat asked, as they worked together to throw the broken crates into a pile that could easily be disposed of by the owner of the building.

They hadn't meant to destroy any of it, but sometimes it just happened and the least that they could do was clean some of it up before the proper authorities showed, then they would have to make themselves scarce. It was not that they didn't want to help from that point forward, it was only that they could not risk being too suspicious for someone's liking. If that happened, then they would be in deep trouble with quite a few people.

"I don't know. She was still out when I left and it didn't look all that great. She doesn't look to have anything physically wrong with her, but her powers are drained," Rocky said, as Kat closed her eyes and tried to suppress the emotions that were flowing through her. She could remember when Tommy had taken care of her like that and it was one thing that she was glad about, but she had seen that when Tommy took care of Kim, it was completely different. It seemed to her that when things went wrong with the two of them, that the other couldn't function and that was the way it was supposed to be, as she found Adam and herself becoming more like that. She just wished that some of things that left a bad taste in her mouth would not have happened while she was a ranger, but they had and she had learned to deal with all of it, even if it was not easy to push aside. "I don't think that Tommy is going to take this good."

"God no," Tommy muttered, as he saw how pale Kim was, even in the dim light that was being cast on her from the scanners that were trying to detect any problem that they could easily fix at the command center. The bruises seemed to be appearing upon her body by the second as he reached out to touch her and felt that her skin was cold to the touch, which he did not expect. His hand traveled up her arm and to her face as he kneeled down beside the gurney, ignoring Hayley and Alpha's presence in the command center. He then put his head down on her lap, as he clutched a piece of her pants and her shirt in each respective hand. His sobs were now the only sound that could be heard in the command center while Hayley and Alpha tried to help Kim as much as they could, without disturbing the grieving Tommy. He needed to be able to cry, but they needed to be able to help her as well. So they would eventually have to disturb him, but he was all right for the time being. "Why couldn't it be me instead of you, Beautiful?"

"Tommy, we know that you're upset, but you have to let us help her," Alpha said, as Tommy straightened his back and stood up for a few seconds while he looked down at her. Hayley had never seen Tommy look that pained over something, in all of the years that she had known him, but he was now barely able to hold the sobs inside of himself, as she placed a chair behind him and he quickly seated himself in it, not thinking to thank her. His mind was miles away from there.

His mind was screaming at him for not being there for her, but he couldn't have done anything different, even if he had tried to change it and he hated admitting that to himself right now. But it really was the truth this time. All the times that he had made a break for her, something got in his way and it usually wasn't just a tryadrone, as they had learned to leave him alone a long time ago. He couldn't risk pissing Zeltrax off and him walking over and killing her, just because he could. If that had happened, he was as good as gone off the deep in, as he would no longer be able to control his emotions, and he would go on a rampage that none of the rangers could stop, no matter how hard they tried.

"I know, Alpha," Tommy said, as he placed his face in his hands and cried more of the pent up tears he had been trying to hold inside.

No one would have believed it; if they had saw him at the dojo with her, as they always joked around and seemed so lighthearted about things, as if they never took anything too seriously. To an outsider, they looked to have a great life, but to those that were involved in ranger work on a daily basis, they knew they had to do that to keep themselves from going crazy, as it was not like they could change the things that happened to them. Death was always at their doorstep and being captured was just a heartbeat away; no matter how hard they tried to deny it, they lived the life of chance. A life that not many other people would be willing to live at all.

This hurt him more than anything did; to know that Mesogogg had almost taken her away from him, just like Lord Zedd had tried to do so many years before and he had failed in his attempt, as well. He no longer cared if he sounded possessive, selfish, obsessed, or anything else that she would not like him to sound like when he was talking about her. He loved her and he wanted to protect her, but he had failed her at the time that she had needed him the most and he did not like it at all. He never liked knowing that he had failed someone, especially the way that he had failed her this time.

"Tommy, give her a little while to wake up, but this treatment should have her awake in a few minutes, if the damage isn't too great," Alpha said, as the black ranger looked up at him before giving the robot a hug and then sitting back down in his chair. He could only pray that it would work as quickly as Alpha said it would. He needed to see her eyes, needed to see her smile, needed to know that she really was all right this time.

She had appeared to be very weak when they first had gotten her back and away from Richard, and all of the other threats upon her life. He knew that she shouldn't have even morphed after going through something like that, but he had been selfish and wanted her out there with him, thinking he could protect her, but it almost cost her, her life, which was something he had never thought he would put in danger again. He had always tried to protect her, by doing what he thought was right, however, keeping her out there had been the wrong move this time and if she didn't wake up, he would never forgive himself for it.

"She awake?" Billy murmured as they teleported in, but they kept a safe distance away from the gurney, as Tommy sat in a chair staring at her, willing her to wake up and look at him, with a smile on her face. They could tell, just by looking at Tommy's back that he was still crying as it shook with the silent sobs that were threatening to verbalize themselves.

Him crying this much was much more than the young rangers thought Tommy would or even could cry about something that had happened in battle, until today. He had always been able to push his emotions to the side, but he was not able to do that this time. It was Kim and that seemed to be enough of an explanation to all of them as to why he was acting like this. There was nothing else that could cause him to act like this and they knew that.

"No," Hayley said, simply, as they collectively shuddered before Trini let out a soft sob, which caught everyone, even Tommy's, attention.

That was when they first got a full view of how upset Tommy really was about all of it. His eyes were already puffy and red and he couldn't seem to keep his hands out of his black hair, because of the frustration, he felt about everything that had happened. The ones that knew him the longest could tell that he was blaming himself for some of this happening to her, which was something Kim would not want to hear when she woke up. Tommy had always taken things like this hard, but it seemed like he was taking it worse now, than he ever had before.

"Poor Dr. O," Kira said, as Trent put an arm around her, while she wiped away the tears that were leaking out of the corner's of her eyes, as she could not imagine going through what Dr. O was going through. She didn't know what she would do if Trent was the one on that gurney, but she was sure that it would be close to what Dr. O was doing right now or even worse if that was humanly possible.

"We better go upstairs, Kira," Trent whispered, as he knew that Dr. O would not be able to take the chatter, as they could only stay silent for so long.

He felt horrible about what had happened to Kim, but the last thing they needed right now was a bunch of teenagers hanging around while they were trying to make sure that she would be alright and they all hoped that she would be. If she wasn't, Dr. O would go after Mesogogg by himself, if they would let him and maybe even if they wouldn't. He seemed to already want to do that, but he didn't seem to have the energy to do that now.

"Jason, is she going to be alright?" Trini asked, praying that he would just wrap her up in a tight hug and tell her that everything would be all right, even if it might not be in the end.

They all needed the sense of hope, as it might not be good, even when she did wake up. There were injuries that Alpha and Hayley could not take care of, but they all prayed that she had none of those and it was just her being drained from everything that had happened and that, that would explain why the pulse had knocked her out so easily. They didn't really want to think of the other options.

"I don't know," Jason said, honestly, as he gave her a tight hug and heard her sobs coming out against his chest, as his shirt was being soaked by the tears. He felt her shaking against his grasp, as he knew that she had never really experienced Kim being like this before now. She had been gone from the ranger world before that had happened for the first time, but he knew what it was like and had expected it to be like this or worse for those that had never seen her in this situation. He, however, had hoped that Tommy would be able to control his emotions in some way, but he was still unable to do that and Jason could tell by looking around at the people that could remember him being like this before, that it had not been this bad last time. That he had been able to reign in his emotions, somehow, but he had the feeling that it had a lot to do with the fact that they weren't dating and nothing else. "But I'm sure that she'll wake up Trini. It just takes time."

"Jason, it hit her head on," Trini whispered, as she heard Tommy let out a sob that he had been trying to hold in, which startled quite a few of them.

He had never sobbed before when things happened to Kim and none of them were sure if they could deal with him at all in this state. He knew deep down, what Trini said was true, it had hit her head on, with its full force doing exactly what it was meant to do and he hated knowing that he had not been able to stop it.

"Come on, honey. Let's go upstairs. Tommy doesn't need us talking about it and we all just need to try to get some rest," Jason said, as they heard Kim groan, but not wake up from her sleep. Tommy then started pacing alongside the gurney; murmuring barely audible encouragement's to her. She just had to wake up soon.

"Beautiful, come on," Tommy muttered, brushing a hand on the side of her face, over the scratches that Mesogogg had left on her skin and gently tracing each one with loving care. He knew that they would go away with time, but it wouldn't matter to him if he was never able to see her eyes look at him again. "Don't do this to me, baby."

"Billy, you couldn't help her any?" Aisha asked, as they all had settled themselves around the furniture in the living room.

Trini was still crying and Kat was just sitting there, staring off into space, as Adam rocked her back and forth in his lap. None of the rangers were taking it well, but the female rangers were taking it the hardest, as they were not afraid to show their emotions and most of the guys had let a few tears trail down their cheeks before they somehow managed to recompose themselves. They had to somehow focus themselves on what could be ahead of them and if Kim was still unconscious when Mesogogg came back, then they were just going to have to leave her there and pray for the best.

"No, Hayley and Alpha have done everything that they can do. I'll just be in the way if I go down there," Billy said, as they could tell that it was bothering him that he was not able to help their friend. Kim was a strong girl, she always had been, but they didn't even know if she was strong, enough to go through all of that and not have some lasting effects on her body, but none of them wanted to be the person to bring that up. So, it continued to pass through their minds, but it was never verbalized, as verbalizing it would somehow make it more true to all of them. "We just have to wait and hope that it works for her. If she's not awake by morning, I'll go contact the people from Aquitar. They can help us."

"Billy, should you even wait that long?" Kat asked, as he looked over at her and then sighed. Who was he fooling? The people from Aquitar could help, but by morning, Tommy would probably be ready to take her to the hospital and they would not object to that at all.

"We all know Tommy, he won't contact anyone unless things get really bad and I hate saying it, but things might get that bad," Billy said, as they nodded their heads in agreement and then they fell silent, not wanting to talk about anything that had to deal with the two of them. "She should have been awake by now."

"Is Dr. O always like this when something happens to her?" Conner asked, truly curious as to why he had never seen Dr. O act like this until today.

They really had not expected him to have a reaction that was as emotionally charged as Kim's had been in his experience like this, which was just wishful thinking. They should have known, by now, that the two of them were really the only things that had ever happened to make the other believe in love and without the other there, things were never as good for them.

"Yeah, he is," Zack said, simply as they went silent, not willing to elaborate on it tonight. There was not much left for them to talk about, as the hours went by, some of them drifted off to sleep, while others began pacing around the living room. They knew that Hayley or Alpha would come tell them when she woke up, so it was obvious that she had not.

Trini had long cried herself to sleep, when the ones that were still awake heard the door to the command center creak open, only for Hayley to sit down next to Billy and cry on his shoulder. She had finally cracked and could no longer take the situation downstairs, which had caused Alpha to tell her to leave and not to worry, he could do the work. It was just too depressing to be down there, she could not focus on anything, and it was for her own good, as Tommy was likely to snap at any moment, as well.

"It's gonna be alright," Billy whispered as Hayley's shoulders shook as she could not help but continue to cry. She just hadn't got any better over the last few hours and it seemed that everything that they did, just didn't work for her. She had never experienced anything like it before and she honestly did not know how Billy had been able to do it for all of those years. She had been able to take Tommy being out, because Kim's reaction was expected. She had not expected to see Tommy like that. "Sometimes it takes this long for someone to wake up when they've had their powers depleted so badly."

"I know, Billy, but…"Hayley said, not knowing how to word what she was thinking. Kim's vital status was fine, but she just had not woken up yet and it was killing Tommy, as he could not sleep at all.

He had cried himself out a few hours before, but now he was laying his head on her stomach, much like what she had done when he had been the one that would not wake up. He had been talking to her and everything that he said; Hayley didn't even know about half of it and what she did know about, she was surprised Tommy was saying in front of her and Alpha. He could not function like a normal person without her and they all knew it now. She could only hope Kim would wake up soon, for all of them, but especially for Tommy.

"She'll be alright. She's come through worse than this before," Billy said, now rocking her back and forth in his arms, trying to get her to calm down or at least go to sleep, because of the tears that were flowing so readily from her eyes.

"Beautiful, I know that I was really stubborn about some things that you really wanted to have happen lately. Kim, I don't care anymore about holding off on things, I want you to be happy and I'll do whatever you want me to. Come on, please wake up," Tommy said, as he reached his hand up and placed it on her cheek.

She was not as cold as she had been earlier and he could only hope that it was a sign that she would wake up soon. He then lifted his head off of her stomach and gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting back in his chair and just staring at her. Everything that he had said to her, he meant with every fiber of his being and he would do all of it, if she asked him to.

He had no clue how she had been able to sleep while he was lying on that gurney, unconscious, other than the fact that she had not been able to sleep in two days because of the fact that they did not know where he was or how they could get him back. He just could not bring himself to do that; he wanted to see her wake up and he just hoped that she would wake up soon. Alpha kept giving her treatments every hour or so, but the only thing that they had seemed to do was cause her to mutter something, before returning to the state that she was in, which did not help Tommy's spirits any.

"Tommy, get some rest. I'll come and get you if she wakes up," Alpha said, as he did not like seeing Tommy like this, at all.

He had been the one ranger that rarely had an emotional breakdown like this one and when he did, Kim had always been the one to lift him up and get him back on track. For his breakdown to be caused by her, only one thing would cure him and it was her waking up. It might take a very long, time, and he did not want to hear that at all, which was the one thing that kept Alpha silent about the situation. If Tommy had been taking things alright he would have told him, but he was not.

"No, Alpha. I'm going to stay with her. I have to stay with her," Tommy said, as he reached out his hand and engulfed her hand in his, scared to let her go. He could only stare at the bruises that were on her hand and could not believe that this had happened.

She had been through worse, without so much as stumbling, but even Tommy could not know what had happened to her while Mesogogg had her and that did not give him any comfort. If he had stunned her as many times as he was sure that he had been stunned, then there was no telling how weak she had been before she had used her powers to help them get to her. She just never seemed to let on that there was a problem and if she had, he would have gladly teleported her home himself, without a second thought as to what was happening in the field. She had to be safe. That was the most important thing in his mind.

"Um," Kim muttered, as she shook her head back and forth, trying to break through the sleep that she was in. Tommy looked up at her, as his attention turned to her face, and prayed that she really was waking up and it wasn't just more sporadic movement from her. He did not know if he could take that happening too many more times, as it had happened several times already. He could tell that she was not in a very peaceful sleep and if she would only wake up, then he would take her upstairs and let her fall asleep in his arms, like he wanted her to. "Where am I?"

"You're home, Beautiful, you're home," Tommy said, looking down at her, as he started to cry, again. She turned her head to look at him and smiled at how worried he had been about her. Seeing his tears was enough to make her wonder if she could really take all of this, but she knew that he had been just as worried about her as she had feared he would be. Her body was begging her to go back to sleep, as it needed some more rest to recover from everything that happened, but she needed to tell him that she really was fine, so he could stop worrying about it. He needed to have a chance to stop worrying, for a little while. "Oh, Kim."

"I'm fine, Handsome, I'm fine," Kim said, as Tommy picked her up and sat her in his lap, as he cried against her, holding her as close as he could glad that she was all right. He occasionally kissed her on any revealed skin while he continued to cry, as he looked at her, so happy that she had woken up and seemed to be all right, despite the bruises and cuts. "Tommy, what's gotten into you? This has happened before, it's no big deal."

"You were knocked out for so long," Tommy said, as he placed a hand on her cheek and stared into her eyes. She was now looking at his tear streaked face and saw that he really had some things he wanted to say to her. It broke her heart to see him this upset and worried about her, when she could have prevented it, by going down into the command center when her communicator went off this afternoon, but she had thought that it could wait, for a little while. She knew that she would never do that again after what happened to her and unless Tommy asked, she was not going to retell what happened tonight. It would take too long to do that. "I don't want to wait anymore, Kim. I want us to go ahead and have kids, while we're both still here to enjoy it. I know things could happen to either of us, but I'm willing to risk it. Mesogogg's not going to be able to fight for awhile and we both know that."

"Do you know what you just said?" Kim asked, as she moved her head down onto his shoulder. If he was serious about this, he had just made her happier than she had ever thought he would be able to, as them getting married had held that moment until now and it still might in some ways.

"Yeah, I do and I'm serious about it. I can't go on knowing that you want something and I don't want to ever have to come home to the house like it was today," Tommy said, as the scene flashed in his mind again, before he let out a broken sob. Kim looked at him, before she pulled his head up to look at her. He did not have the right to hang his head, he was human after all, and things were bound to make him feel like this, although it was not as often as his wife's emotional swings. It had been years since he had been like this and it made her uncomfortable. "It scared me, Kim, it really scared me to know what had happened and to know that I had not been here to try to stop it."

"I'm alright, Tommy. It could have been worse, but we got through it. We're both still here," Kim said and then gave him a gentle kiss on the lips before he smiled at her. She was so glad to see that smile back on his face and she hoped that she would never have another reason in her lifetime to see him as upset as he had been tonight. She had always been the one that needed to be consoled, but to see him, when he needed it so much, was something that she could barely comprehend.

"I know, but it really couldn't be much worse for me Kim. You mean so much to me," Tommy said, as she reached out to wipe away his tears, before her arm caught in pain.

She looked down at her arm and saw that nothing looked wrong, but with everything that she had been through, she was not surprised by the soreness. Tommy noticed the look on her face and reached up to massage out some of the tightness, while she gave him a happy smile and a hug before she thought of something that might not be so good for them spending time alone, although they needed this time together.

"You mean a lot to me too. Tommy, are the others alright?" Kim asked, as he looked up at her and realized that they were probably still in the living room, waiting for someone to come up and tell them that she had woken up. Alpha, could not really leave the command center, it was too much of a risk that he would be discovered. As for Hayley, well, Tommy vaguely remembered Alpha telling her to go upstairs and get some rest, as she was close to having an emotional breakdown of her own.

"Yeah, but they don't know you've woken up. Is it alright if she goes upstairs?" Tommy asked, Alpha, as the robot had been keeping his distance. He didn't want to get in their way and he had managed to not do that, which was something that he was quite proud of.

"Yes," Alpha said, as Kim stood up, under her own power and gave Alpha a hug.

She knew that she needed to tell everyone thanks for being there, but she knew that she owed Alpha and Hayley the most thanks. They had been the ones that managed to keep Tommy from going crazy while she was out and she couldn't thank them enough for that. Tommy was just happy that she could walk on her, as he had been scared that she might not be able to do that, when she wasn't morphed, but she somehow, was able to.

"Thank you, Alpha," Kim said, with a smile, as Tommy grabbed her hand and led her up the stairs. He carefully helped her out of the command center, insuring that the door didn't hit her on her way out of the command center. When they walked into the living room, many of their friends were asleep, but Billy was still awake, as he couldn't help but be worried.

"Thank you," Billy said, as he saw Kim walking next to Tommy with a smile on her face. She looked like she had been through a tough battle, but she was still the same old Kim, who was going to try to make them think she was perfectly fine, until it was just her and Tommy. Some of the other rangers started to stir, hearing what Billy had said, but it didn't really hit them what it was until they saw Kim sitting down next to Tommy on the floor.

"You shouldn't scare us like that," Trini said, as she looked over at Kim and gave her a fierce hug. Jason let out a gentle laugh, as they all smiled about Trini's reaction. They would have expected Tommy to say that, but hearing it from Trini was just funny for all of them.

"Trini, I hate to tell you, but you might want to get used to seeing me and anyone else here on that gurney," Kim said, as the laughing stopped and they looked at her.

They really didn't want to think about how real this could have been for any of them, but she seemed to be willing to let them know about all of it. Tommy's silent tears had started up again and they could understand it completely. The two of them had done so much that they could not help but deal with this right now and they were going to tell the truth about all of it, even if it hurt.

"Don't talk like that," Jason said, as they all looked at him. He had not said much about anything since they had gotten back, other than to try to calm Trini down.

They all knew that Jason had a soft spot for the pink ranger and her being his little sister made him scared about all of it. He knew that he never wanted to see Trini in the condition that she had been in today and could only imagine what it was doing to Tommy's heart right now. They had all been through some rough things, but in order to defeat Mesogogg they would probably spend several more evenings like this, whether they liked it or not.

"Jason, I'm fine, you know that," Kim said with a smile and then yawned. "We just have to face the reality some times and this is one of those times."

"How long do you think it will be?" Rocky asked, as he was wondering how it would be best to prepared Ally for this. If he had to leave tomorrow, then he would just have to lay everything out for her tonight. He did not want to do that, but he might have to, so he would not be lying to her about the one thing that she had made him promise to not lie about.

"I don't know. It could be a few weeks or it could be a few years," Tommy said, as they looked at him and then looked away. That was not what they had wanted to hear from him, but he couldn't lie about that or they would get him back for it.

"So we could be doing this for years before Mesogogg comes back?" Conner asked, trying to comprehend what Dr. O had said. It didn't really make any sense, but they would be all right with it, somehow.

"Yeah, we could," Tommy said, not wanting to elaborate on the subject tonight. They all needed to get home and get some rest; then they could worry about everything else that was going on. "I don't know about all of you, but I'm tired and we all need to get some rest."

"Dr. O, are you asking us to go home?" Trent asked with a smile, as he took hold of his communicator and prepared himself to be teleported to his home for some much needed rest.

"Yeah, but why don't you go home with Kira? I don't think your dad is going to be home tonight," Tommy said, as a few of them cast him suspicious looks before they were teleported to their homes, leaving just Kira and Trent in their living room.

"Dr. O, is there something you know that we don't?" Kira asked, as Kim looked up at Tommy and just gave him a long hug before she got off of the floor to go upstairs and try to go to sleep. She didn't really want to leave Tommy, but this explanation could take forever and she desperately needed rest and she was not going to kid herself about that.

"Well, it's not something we know for a fact, but it's a suspicion we've had for awhile about Anton Mercer," Tommy said, as Trent looked at him and slowly nodded. Alpha had already broken it to him and he understood that if he wanted to leave he could, but his responsibility really was to Kira and the other rangers.

"What is it?" Kira asked, as Trent gave her a hug and then started to speak. Dr. O didn't have to say anything, he had been through enough today already.

"My father is Mesogogg, Kira and he has to be taken care of. I don't know if he'll live through the final battle that we have, but there are more people at risk, if I were to give up my powers, namely you," Trent said, as Kira laid her head on his shoulder and he gave her a simple kiss on the forehead.

"You can stay as long as you want, but I'm going to go upstairs and go to sleep and I suggest the two of you get some rest as well," Tommy said, as he stood up from his position on the couch and watched Trent nod in recognition that he had, indeed, heard him.

"Tommy," Kim muttered, as she heard him walk into their bedroom, trying to be as quiet as he could. He thought that she would have already been asleep, but she had to talk to him for a little while.

"Hey, why are you still awake?" Tommy asked, as he had slipped off his jeans and shirt before crawling into bed next to her. She had not even bothered to try to change into a nightgown tonight and was only in her underwear. She had only a limited amount of energy left and had to pick and choose what she could do. "I thought that you woud have already gone to sleep."

"I just wanted to talk to you," Kim said; as he wrapped his arms around her and felt her snuggle closer to him. She felt that her eyes were already trying to close on her, but she was not going to let them do that until she said a few things.

"Alright," Tommy said, as he lay there, content to listen to whatever was on her mind, knowing that she would have done the same thing if he had asked.

"I've missed you this week," Kim said, as she turned around in his arms to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Tommy, honey, if you don't want to try for a baby yet, I understand. We have other things that we have to do right now and I don't want you to be worried about me and a on the way baby if Mesogogg decided to come back soon."

"Kim, we've said that whatever happens, happens. Let's just leave it that," Tommy said, as he found himself tempted and he gave her a, what was supposed to be, quick kiss. He knew that this week apart had done things to him, but he had never imagined himself feeling like this, but she was just as happy about it all. No matter how tired they both were.

AN: That's all for this chapter, no sex scene (lol). I hope that you liked this chapter and how she woke up. I know that I pulled this problem out for a long time and I hope that you have liked it being like this. Let me know what you think and until next time, happy reading! Only three chapters left!


	27. A Little Suprise

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, and Todd Billingsway as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**TrueRomantic:** Eventually, you'll see in this chapter. Jason would try if he had the chance, but he doesn't.

**Ghostwriter:** Thanks so much for the review and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

**secretguest:** Thanks for the review and think of Kim being more drained than injured I guess.

**Daisyz:** Thanks for the review. I know I put them through a lot, but they have some happy times ahead.

Now, on with the Story!

_Kim's POV _

These last few weeks have been rather peaceful, what with Mesogogg having to reorganize his troops after our last battle with him. Which is something we all happen to be thankful for, although Tommy and I know that there is a chance that when he comes back it will be worse than it was before that fateful day when our lives went back to normal, for once. I am still shocked that Mesogogg has not decided to try to go at it without his full power, but he does not seem tobe as idiotic aswe thought.

School ended only yesterday and Tommy and I both have in-service to complete before we can start, truly, enjoying our summer vacation. Both of us are having to get used to not having the kids around anymore, which is a relief in some ways considering what is going on in our other job and how uncertain all of it is. If something happens to call us out this summer, then that is what will have to be done, although we both hope it will be longer than that.

These last few weeks of worry about whether or not Mesogogg will soon return have tired the both of us out, although I have taken the brunt of it this time, which is to be expected after all of the things that did happen to me during that battle. I didn't realize how bad it was, until I woke up this morning, feeling exactly the same as I had when I went to sleep last night. It wouldn't be so bad if Tommy hadn't noticed it, but now he is keeping a close watch on me, as we both know how prone I am to have things happen when I get surprised about things and I have not gotten enough sleep.

I rolled out of bed and started, lazily, walking towards the closet to get some clothes to wear to work today, as I knew I could dress in jeans and a T-shirt for all they cared, the kids were gone now and no one cared what we looked like. After a few minutes I had found what I wanted, but I was feeling queasy and I couldn't really explain why I felt that way, nothing I had eaten would have upset my stomach like that this early in the morning.

While I was trying to get over it, I realized that I needed to throw up and I was going to in a few seconds, no matter what got my way, even if it was Tommy. I ran towards the bathroom, hearing the water on and prayed that Tommy had left the door unlocked this morning and he had by some miracle. After I opened the door, I headed straight towards the toilet, knowing that I had managed to get Tommy's full attention, although I didn't want to do that. I just wanted to be able to be sick in peace, but that did not seem like it was going to happen.

"Kim, you alright?" Tommy asked, as he peeked his head out from behind the shower curtain. She was now sitting in front of the toilet and he saw the remnants of what her stomach contained coming out of her mouth as he asked the question. He did not like seeing her sick and he hoped that it wasn't so bad that she couldn't go into work. They really needed the break this year, even if they couldn't tell people why.

"I'll be fine," Kim said, as she heard him cut off the shower and open the cabinet door to get a towel he could wear for a little while, as her tone of voice did not lead him to believe that statement at all. He also grabbed a rag and wet it in the sink before he walked over and sat down behind her, careful to not get in the way of the toilet if she had to throw up again. He doubted that she would just throw up once and it would be over with, but he could be wrong.

"You sure?" Tommy asked as he felt her lean back against him and he gently wiped the rag over her face and then her mouth, trying to insure that she felt as comfortable as she could, for the condition she was in. She could never figure out where he got his skills for taking care of her when she felt horrible, but his gut instinct worked ninety-nine percent of the time.

"Yeah," Kim said, trying to stand up, but the movement caused her to throw up again, as Tommy caught her before she crashed to the floor.

She could not remember feeling like this in a very long time and the last time she had it was because her whole class had the stomach virus. When she sat back against him this time, she did feel better, even good enough to hop in the shower and go to work. The look on Tommy's face was priceless, as he looked pale but was trying to be good and not become overprotective, too quickly.

"Maybe you should go to the doctor," Tommy suggested, as strongly as he could, as she stood up and headed towards the shower.

He knew that he should be getting himself dressed, but if they didn't talk about this now, then they never would, without getting in a fight and they didn't really want to do that. They had been so happy for the peace that they thought it best to not disturb it while they were enjoyng peace in their other areas of life. Principal Randall could just deal with him being late today, as he was not likely to leave right at three o'clock anyway. He was on some damn committee that she had assigned to him and he had to be at that meeting, which pissed him off even more. It just seemed like the woman was after him.

"I'm fine now Tommy. It's just a freak thing. My stomach has been known to play tricks on me before," Kim said, as she undressed and tried to pull the curtain back from the shower, before Tommy could catch any part of her body, but she was unable to do that. She might have felt fine, but she was not moving as fast as she usually did, which allowed him to do that.

"Kim, please," Tommy said, as she turned around and faced him, knowing that he was close to begging her to go. She didn't think that she needed to go to the doctor, but he was very insistent on it this time. It was funny that he just seemed to think that she really needed it, otherwise they might not know what was going on for a long time. It was like he already suspected something, but he just didn't know what it was, yet. "It would just make me feel better if you would go. I don't want anything to be going on that we need to know about."

"Okay, Tommy, but I'm sure that it is nothing. You don't have any reason to worry," Kim said as she got into the shower, but was surprised when Tommy opened the shower curtain a few seconds later and held out a telephone towards her. He knew that if he didn't watch her, she was not going to call.

"Call and get your appointment now," Tommy said, as Kim sighed before stepping out of the shower, dripping wet and taking the telephone from him.

After she had come out here, she had not bothered to get a regular doctor, for some reason she just never did, and now she could only call her gynecologist for an appointment, on something that was probably just a bad case of nerves. The thing was, she had no reason to be nervous, but she was not going to point that out to Tommy or he really would worry about her.

"You happy now?" Kim asked, as she finished the call and gave him back the phone, before she jumped back in the shower, as she was freezing from all of this.

"Thank you," Tommy said leaning into the shower and giving her a quick kiss before he went to get dressed for the day. He couldn't help but be worried that her powers were starting to have some type of adverse effect on her body and he could only pray that it was something else this time. If that was happening he was not sure how he or she would be able to take it.

_Tommy's Day of In-Service _

"Good morning, Oliver," Dennis said, as Tommy walked past his classroom, barely paying attention to anything but the coffee cup he carried in his hands. He looked to be a little bit off this morning, which was the first time he had been like this in a few weeks, as something had obviously relieved the other bits of stress that had come down on him so hard since school had started this year. Although, Dennis highly doubted he would ever be lucky enough to find out what else stressed Tommy out more than seeing Principal Randall each day, which was torture for all of the faculty. They were good friends, but even he felt that there was a certain limit on their friendship, as Tommy held secrets that no one else would ever know about, except maybe his wife and a few select others. "You alright?"

"Yeah, Kim just woke up sick this morning. She's been kinda puny all week, now that I think about it," Tommy said, stopping to talk to his friend.

He had the sinking suspicion that it was more than just a stomach virus or her being nervous about something, as she had quickly gotten over it, but he did not want to say that to anyone until he knew the truth himself. He knew that the dojo's tournament was scheduled for this weekend and if there was any news, he would announce it at the cook out afterwards. He didn't see the point in trying to call up all of their friends, if they would be seeing them in three days, even his parents were coming to watch the tournament, which was a first in a very long time and it would save them a lot of money in the long run.

"What kind of puny, Tommy?" Dennis asked, as he had the feeling Tommy was holding something back, something that would give away exactly what was causing her behavior. Although it seemed that Tommy was choosing to avoid the truth, because he didn't want to see it at this time. It just didn't make sense why he wouldn't want to see it.

"That's what I'm hoping to find out this afternoon," Tommy said, as he heard an announcement over the intercom, calling him to Principal Randall's office. The woman had been riding his ass for weeks now, but he knew that he had not given her any reasons over the last week to call him in for a private conference. So, whatever she had to say to him was bound to tick him off, especially after the morning he had experienced already. Kim being sick always put him in a bad mood and this was sure to make that mood even worse if that was possible. "I better get going, so she won't have anything else to yell at me about."

"Well tell me the good news when you find out," Dennis said as Tommy gave him a confused glance, before continuing down the hall, towards a sure earful of talking and possible yelling. What could be good that would make Kim sick that early in the morning and then disappear for the rest of the day? He was going to have to think on that one for awhile, as his mind truly could not or maybe even would not comprehend it.

The rest of the day, whenever he saw Dennis, he tried to ask him what he meant by his last statement that he had said to him. All Dennis would say was that he would find out this afternoon and not to worry, Kim would be back to normal in a few months, which didn't really make any sense to Tommy.

_The Doctor's Office _

I went through school today fine, but decided to keep my promise to Tommy and go to the doctor, as I had been able to get an appointment early that morning, while he watched me call them and set it up. I thought about what could be causing how I had been feeling lately, but kept on drawing a blank, nothing really fit.

It wasn't the flu or Tommy would have been sick by now, as it had been like this since a few weeks after we had the battle that caused Mesogogg to rebuild his troops. Tommy's cooking has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few months, so it wasn't that either, as he was the one who cooked supper last night and if I do say so myself, it was pretty good. Then there was one other thing, something that didn't pop into my mind until I was packing my stuff to head towards the doctor's office, late this afternoon.

Could I be carrying Tommy's baby, our baby, right now? Tommy and I haven't been the most careful couple in the world; maybe because of the fact that we never knew when an attack would occur or maybe because we really want kids, I know that I do and he does too. We have discussed it some, but neither of us thought that this would happen so soon for the two of us. He did say that he was willing to start trying, but we were going to wait a couple more months, to insure that Mesogogg didn't come back during the middle of my being pregnant, but our plans might have been changed by our carelessness.

"Mrs. Oliver, we are ready for you to go back," the receptionist said and Kim gathered her things and headed into the back room, not sure what or who to expect.

Dr. Jackson was new to the firm, but hopefully he or she was a nice enough person or at least someone that Kim could open up to about this and they not really try to investigate the other parts of the situation. Such as why she had been so active if she was trying to get pregnant, which was something that most other women cut down on if they were as active as she was, at least from around here. If she were to cut down on it, her own husband might be the one to act rashly, as they both had to keep themselves prepared.

"Well, Kim, it's a surprise to see you in here," Tanya said, as she opened the door, while reading the top of her chart, which made everything appear normal, in most of her tests. One look at Kim's face told her that she was just as surprised to see her there as well. The last time Kim had seen her was when they had rescued her from Divatox, which was close to eight years ago now and that had not been great circumstances. Tanya looked to not be as happy as she was back then, but Kim knew that it could just be stemming from a bad day at work, which she had, had more than her fair share of this year. The children were great, but some of the other people she had to deal with were not so awesome. "How's it been going?"

"Good Tanya, I'm just surprised to see you here too. It's been a really long time," Kim said, uncomfortably holding her arms tightly in front of her, trying to disguise any weight that she might have already gained, as she was now sure she was pregnant, all of the signs led to it. She was late, she had, had bad moods and this was not the first morning that she had been queasy, not that she had really thought about it. She just wasn't sure if she was ready to talk to a fellow ranger about what she thought had been making her sick, though. It was one thing if the person didn't know Tommy or herself personally, as they would not know some things about their past, but Tanya did and she was not sure how to talk about what she thought might be ailing her. "Me and Tommy got married a few months ago. I'm sure Kat talked to you about that."

"Yeah, she did. So, did he make you come in here today?" Tanya asked, as Kim gave her a little nod of her head yes. She had heard from the other rangers how protective Tommy had been of Kim and was now getting a chance to see it first hand, which she thought was something she would never see happen.

Although, she had to admit she wasn't so sure about Tommy not being a ranger again. The current black ranger held every single one of his mannerisms, but this was not an appropriate time or place to ask her about that, as she never knew who could be listening to her conversation. She didn't want to put them at risk, in case they really were doing this again, which was scary to think about, knowing what it had done to them in the past.

"Yeah, he did, but I think I know what's going on, now that I've been able to think about it all day," Kim said, staring at her feet, which she was swinging on the side of the hospital bed. She shouldn't be embarrassed to tell Tanya this, just because she knew Tommy and she knew the whole story behind what had happened all those years ago, albeit secondhand, she still knew about it.

"Well, what could it be, Kim?" Tanya asked, looking over the test results and spotting a positive next to one word: pregnant.

Oh boy, she knew that Mesogogg was still at large, but maybe she wasn't an active ranger again, maybe it was just Tommy who was going out there and fighting. Although she doubted that by looking at the communicator that was resting securely on her wrist. To anyone else, it just looked like a piece of different jewelry, but to her trained eye, she knew exactly what it was and what it contained. How could she tell a ranger that they would have to stop their duties for a baby that would soon be appearing in her life?

"I might be pregnant, Tanya. We haven't been as careful as we should have been, considering..." Kim said letting her sentence trail off, as Tanya looked up and shook her head yes.

Then she saw something that not many other patients had ever done. Kim smiled, then laughed, then put her hands over her face, and cried. Tanya was confused as to what she should do, but Kim looked up in a few minutes and wiped the tears from her eyes, knowing that this was something she really wanted but she still was not sure about some things in her life.

She needed to talk to someone, but not Tommy, not yet, but who could she talk to if it wasn't him? Ms. Fanny. She'd be more than willing to listen and give her some sound advice on the matter. She thanked Tanya for the news and then scheduled her next appointment before heading to Ms. Fanny's store, hoping that she was still there. She just needed to have someone, who would let her tell them and not have a bad reaction, as she knew that Tommy might. This wasn't the exact situation that they had hoped for when they found out that they were going to have a baby, actually the best situation would be that Mesogogg was gone.

Ms. Fanny was getting ready to close up for the day when Kim walked into her store, looking to need an open ear and a caring smile. The young woman had come in several times before like this, but this time seemed different. Kim seemed to have something very pressing to talk to her about this evening, something that couldn't wait until later, as she so desperately wanted to act.

"Kim, darlin', what are you doin' here today? Nothin's wrong, is there dear?" Ms. Fanny asked, pulling up Kim a stool to sit down on and she did, rather quickly. Kim looked at her and then looked away before she began to speak about what had brought her to the store that evening.

"No, nothing's wrong, but I need some advice on how to tell Tommy something," Kim said, casting her glance between the floor and Ms. Fanny's concerned face. She had thought that it would be easier to tell Ms. Fanny first, but she was just as nervous.

"What is it dear? You didn't break somethin' of his, did you dear?" Ms. Fanny asked and that earned a small grin from Kim. Whatever it was, it couldn't be that bad if she was smiling about it.

"I'm pregnant, Ms. Fanny," Kim said, as the older woman leapt off her stool and gave Kim a hug. She was so happy for them, but how would it be best to tell Tommy?

"Sweetheart, I can't tell you how you should tell him, but I am sure he will be happy, no matter what you say. He loves you, that is what is important, and he'll be just as happy as you are about this baby," Ms. Fanny said, as Kim gave her a smile. She knew that the visit had been short, but if she was going to talk to Tommy the way she wanted to, she had to get home before he did.

"Thank you, Ms. Fanny," Kim said, as she hurriedly exited the store, to plan what she was going to do, hopefully before Tommy got home.

_The Dojo _

"Tommy, what's on your mind today?" Rocky asked, as he threw him to the ground for the fifth time that day, without so much as breaking a sweat.

He could not seem to concentrate on anything and the advanced class was seeing something that rarely happen at all, Tommy being beat by Rocky in a matter of minutes, which was by no means a good indicator of what he would do against Jason, as they all could remember some of his fighting skills. The tournament was only a few days away and they were all trying to hone their skills, even Tommy, which they thought, was odd. He didn't really have anything to prove, not to them at least, but he might have things to prove to the people in Angel Grove, who seemed to think he was some sort of karate genius.

"I just need to get home. That's all Rocky," Tommy said, as he stood up and prepared himself to be thrown around some more, as he was in no mood to spar, even with the students tonight. Rocky was smart enough to fill in the blanks most days and he hoped today was one of those days, as he was not in the mood to explain all of it, knowing that he didn't even know the full story, yet.

"Is something wrong with Kim?" Rocky asked, trying to feel out Tommy's mood, as he was not being able to read him, he was putting too many walls up between the two of them today.

Kim was the only one that could break his concentration when it was like this and he should have thought about it earlier, but Tommy just seemed to be living in his own world and from his experience it was best to leave it that way most days. Tommy, however, was begging him to break him from his world, as soon as he could, which was odd.

"Not really, she just got up sick this morning, but she seemed fine after she threw up a few times. I don't understand it," Tommy said, as Rocky choked on the water he was drinking. Tommy was really being dense if he could not figure that one out on his own.

"Do you know what could have caused it?" Rocky asked, as he could only think of one thing that would cause that and it would mean Kim sitting out for nine months, at least.

He wasn't sure if the ranger team could afford that now, although he knew what they were forcing Mesogogg to do, rebuild his forces, which were now non-existent. It, however, was only a matter of time before he came back into full force and they would need every available ranger when that happened, even Kim.

"Not really, although you are the second person today that seems that I should know what it is," Tommy said, thinking about how similar Dennis's reaction had been to what he had told him had happened this morning. It just seemed that they were thinking of some crazy things that they thought would be logical for him to think of.

"Don't worry about it Tommy, I'm sure you'll find out tonight," Rocky said, as Tommy looked at him confused and then placed his hands over his face, in pure frustration.

"What do all of you know that I don't?" Tommy asked, as the student's in his class looked over at him, as he had practically screamed the question towards Rocky. Whew, what had gotten into Dr. O today? He didn't even have to teach school today and he was yelling like he had been in a room full of teenagers for ten hours straight or more.

"Tommy, go home, man and I'll take care of this class for the night. I have the feeling that you need to," Rocky said and Tommy headed towards his office to grab his keys and duffel bag.

When he walked back out, he had put on his glasses and was trying to figure out what everyone seemed to know that he didn't. He had been forced to don the glasses, as his vision generally blurred when he got this aggravated with something and it was doing that now, as if to let him know how close he was to exploding, although he did not plan to explode on his wife with whatever news she had to tell him.

_Oliver Residence _

"Kim? Kim, where are you?" Tommy asked, as he dropped his duffel bag and began to search the house for his wife. He saw supper was fixed and sitting on the table, but Kim was not in the kitchen and one look into the command center showed that she was not down there either, as Alpha was quietly working on some simple projects they had for him. He, then, ran up the stairs, as he was becoming truly worried as to where she was and could only hope she was upstairs tonight. The last time he had come home and not been able to find her, she had been captured, but he bumped into her, as she headed out of their bedroom, not really, paying attention to anything. As the relief washed over him, he reached out and gave her a quick hug before taking a step back to look at her and could tell that she was really nervous about what he might ask, very soon. "Thank goodness, you're alright."

"Why wouldn't I be, Tommy?" Kim asked, as she held the home pregnancy test in her hands, but she quickly closed her hands tightly over it, although he had already seen it. Tommy looked down at it curiously, before reaching out to take it from her and she started to back away from him. She knew how she wanted to do this and him looking at it right now was not it.

"Kim, what is that?" Tommy asked, as she shyly headed towards the stairs, ignoring Tommy's question and continuing on into the kitchen, where she placed it next to his plate, very calmly. Tommy's curiosity had been peeked, but he still wanted to give her another hug and a kiss before looking at what she had placed next to his plate. He took every opportunity that he got to show her how much he cared, after almost losing her in that last battle. He didn't want something to happen and her not know how he felt about her or the other way around. They had risked it too many times in the past and they did not plan to risk it in the future. "Kim, what did the doctor have to say to you?"

"That'll answer your questions Tommy, I promise," Kim said, as he gave her a hug and a kiss on her forehead before heading towards the freezer to get some ice for his drink, trying to collect himself in a fashion in which he would not have a horrible reaction if whatever it was startled him. He did not want to upset her, if it was something that she was truly happy about.

She went over to sit down at her seat, before Tommy made his way to the table. When he had set his drink down, he picked up the object sitting next to his plate and lifted it up to eye level, so he could really see what it was without having to move his glasses in one particular direction.

"Kim," Tommy said, quietly, as he realized it was a pregnancy test and felt his heartbeat quicken, as he looked up at her, hoping he was taking this in the right direction. Although he could think of no other reason that it would be sitting next to his plate and she would have reacted the way that she did. "We're going to have a baby?"

"Yes, Tommy," Kim said, as she awaited his reaction, not knowing what he would do. Within a few seconds, he had gotten up from his seat to give her another hug and then he looked at her, with concern filling his eyes. He knew that he did not want something to happen to the baby or her and Mesogogg might try doing that, as he would surely find out about her condition sooner or later.

"You know this means you can't go out there anymore, don't you?" Tommy asked, as her eyes widened with surprise at him asking her to not be a ranger while she was pregnant.

She had been planning to continue until the doctors pulled something else, but Tommy did not seem to like that idea, at all. He didn't want to risk Richard hitting her with one of those pulses and her and the baby dying because of it.

"Tommy, we can talk about that later," Kim said, as he placed one hand on her lower stomach and gave her another bone crushing hug.

They were going to have a baby and he could not have been happier, even knowing about what Mesogogg might do. He knew that he would do everything in his power to not let that happen to them. They really were what was going to keep him going and keep him fighting, for the next nine months and he knew that Kim knew that, whether she liked the idea was a different story.

"Why don't we eat in the living room tonight?" Tommy asked, as he picked up her plate and then went to pick up his as well. It might have seemed to be a question, but he was going to do it whether she agreed or not. "We can talk and eat."

"Tommy, I don't want to fight about this tonight. I just want to be happy," Kim said, as she settled herself on the couch next to him and knowing that she had gotten his full attention continued with what needed to be said, scared he would get mad. "The doctor said I can continue on with normal activities until my first appointment, then they'll tell me if they think I should cut anything out."

"If Mesogogg finds out about this, he'll go after you twice as hard as the rest of us and you know Zeltrax will come after me, so I won't be able to get to you if something happens. You won't have any help if something goes wrong in the field," Tommy said, trying to reason with her, instead of them getting into a yelling match with each other. He knew that it was not smart to add any more stress to her, but that might happen if she still insisted on going into the field with them. He felt that he had to put his foot down in that case, which was something she would probably not like, at all. She had always prided herself in being able to choose, but he didn't want he to choose this time. "And let's face it, no one would think of being a ranger as a normal activity, except us, and our friends are even beginning to wonder if we need to be taken in for a psyche evaluation because of how many times we've come out of retirement to do this."

"I know that, but if they tell me to stop anything else, then I know being a ranger has to go, Tommy and I'm willing to leave the battles if it becomes too much for me," Kim said, as she watched Tommy place his thumb on one side of his nose and his index finger on the other. On the rare occasions that he had cried, when she was not injured, she had seen him do this, but she didn't understand why he would be crying now. There was nothing that she had said that should make him cry.

"I really don't want you to risk this. Beautiful, you don't know when it's too much for you. You were almost killed last time; I cannot take that happening again," Tommy said, looking over at her as his tears threatened to spill over. He didn't want to risk their baby's life because of them being rangers, as Kim's was already in greater danger now, just by finding out she was pregnant.

"Tommy, we knew things like this could come up, but I'm not sure my staying away from the field will keep Mesogogg from coming after me," Kim said, as she placed her plate on the coffee table and carefully pulled Tommy's head down to rest on her shoulder. His tears, which should have been caused by happiness, were caused by immense worry for his wife and their child. They both knew what these creatures were capable of and neither one of them wanted to face the reality of it right away. "You are the one who always says that everything will be alright and it will be, if you just have a little faith in all of this."

"Beautiful, I said that to keep you from breaking down, many times. I can't lie to you like that right now," Tommy said, as she gave his arm a squeeze before feeling him move to look at her. "Kim, let's just be happy tonight and we can worry about everything else later."

"Alright, Tommy," Kim said with a smile, as she felt him settle one of his hands on her stomach, while he ate his food with the other. This was their choice, their baby, and they would not let Mesogogg take it away from them without putting up one hell of a fight.

AN: I know it's not long and I know that some of you may not like it, but I hope that you do any way! Feel free to review and until next time, happy reading!


	28. The Dojo Tournament

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, Todd Billingsway, and all of the characters featured as karate competitors, as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**TrueRomantic:** Thanks yeah that is going to be very interesting.

**DreamsofGold:** Well, I didn't mean to make you cry, but I'm glad that you enjoyed the chapter.

**Daisyz:** You're not the only one who said that and you'll see how it goes.

**XRachX:** Thank you, I'm glad about that. I was worried that he would seem out of character in the last chapter.

**Ghostwriter:** Well, I thought a few people would and I'm glad it didn't shock you, too much. Yeah it is going to be interesting and I hope that you like how it turns out.

**secretguest:** Yeah, you'll see. I really don't plan to torture them that much, as they do deserve some peace.

Now on with the Story!

_The Dojo's Tournament_

_Charlie's POV_

It's the morning of our dojo tournament and I'm really nervous about this, I can't lie about that one. Tommy and Rocky have been putting in so many extra hours with us and I still don't know if we're all prepared for this. I've never seen what any of these people can do and if they're anything like Dr. O and Jason, I don't know if I want to see them. Jackson and I will be competing in one pair's challenge and then Ashley and I will then have to fight against Angel Grove's coed team. I don't want to let her down by not being able to compete because I'm too tired from going up against the guys. Tommy has guaranteed that I will be able to do this, but I don't know if I can. I'm not him, I'm not as strong, and I'm definitely not as sure of myself.

"Charlie! Charlie Hughes!" Ashley yelled as she ran towards him and he still did not turn around, until after she was tapping him on his shoulder. She was so excited about this day and Charlie just seemed to not be in a really good mood, which was a shame. He should have been trying to have some fun with this, but all he could think about was the pressure of competing. It seemed that there was nothing that would make him happier than winning and only winning, which proved he was just a very competitive guy. "What's wrong with you? Can't you hear?"

"I'm sorry, baby," Charlie said, giving her a hug and then watching as she pushed a strand of hair out of his face, trying to get a better view of his eyes, which showed how worried he was. He knew that he might as well admit it or she would try to pull it out of him. She had done it in the past and she was sure to do it again if he made her. "I can't think right now, I'm too worried about all of this."

"That's not good," Tommy said with a smile as he came up behind him and patted him on the back. "What's eating at you, Charlie? You think that they're too good for you?"

"No, it's other stuff Dr. O," Charlie said as he adjusted his white gi and then looked over at the ring they had set up in the middle of the dojo. They had put out folding chairs yesterday, preparing for the people that were going to be there, which was quite a few more than he had ever performed in front of. Kim was standing next to the ring and she had been watching Tommy closely as he walked around and did some final inspections on things as he was not letting her help with any of it, which was odd. He had always welcomed her help, but he just didn't this time.

"Hey, you're good, just trust yourself and she has your back if your ass hits the mat, trust me on that one," Tommy said with a smile as he saw Jason walk into his dojo, with the Angel Grove kids following closely behind him.

They looked scared to death, but when Jason spotted Tommy the first thing he did was head them straight for him, so they could see he was a real person and he was not someone that they needed to be scared of. Of course, they might not get that idea from seeing him in karate clothes, as he seemed to naturally fit into them without a problem. They probably would get the most comfort when they saw Kim and noticed that she had nothing to do with karate or so it looked to them. If they had known her while she was in Angel Grove they would have thought otherwise, but they could only remember Tommy and that was scary enough.

"How you been doing?" Jason asked, as Tommy gave him a hug before looking at the kids, who staring at him in wide-eyed shock.

Jason could tell Tommy had something on his mind, to tell them later, but he could not imagine what it would be. Hopefully it had nothing to do with Mesogogg, but if it did, Trini and he had packed enough clothes away in case they were to have to leave the planet. They had gotten to where they carried clothing with them all the time, because they never knew when Tommy or Kim might call and say that it was time to go.

"Good, Kim will show you to your locker room, so they can get changed," Tommy said, as he pointed towards his wife and the teenagers immediately headed towards her, while Jason took a little longer to talk to him.

They hadn't seen each other in awhile and Jason couldn't help but notice some slight changes around Kim's middle, but he could always ask about that later. For all he knew, she could finally be gaining the freshman fifteen that she was supposed to gain in college, but had not because of the intense gymnastics training she was still in. He could never figure out how she had done it for all of those years, but even once she quit training, she still did the stuff, for the fun of it. Of course, some people could say the same about him with his karate.

"She doing alright?" Jason asked, as Tommy watched her guide the kids towards their locker room.

"Yeah, she's fine Jason, just a little bit stressed because of somethings that have come up," Tommy said, as he noticed a few of the kids glancing at the two of them, knowing that they were scheduled to fight against each other, although they did happen to be best friends. Many had expected that they would be avoiding each other, but all they wanted to do was catch up a little before they had to get in the ring. So they would know if they needed to be careful of some emotionally draining situations, although Jason did, but Tommy was putting up Tommy many walls for him to be able to read him well. "You better get going before they decide that we are planning out something together."

"Hey," Kim said, smiling up at him as he placed a hand on her stomach for a second before he slowly took it away. They didn't want to draw any more attention to it before they told everyone at the cook out later on this evening, but both of them were having a hard time acting as if it wasn't there at all. They had quickly gotten used to the little touches that they gave each other now and trying to keep from doing those things was proving to be harder than they thought it would be. They had thought they would be able to turn everything off for a few hours, but that proved to be nearly impossible for the two of them. "You'll do fine."

"How could you tell?" Tommy asked, as she couldn't help but laugh at him.

He never put up walls in front of her, which was a good thing and it kept them from having some problems, although it did create others on the rare occasion he was trying to keep a secret from her. There were times when he had wanted to surprise her with something but his eyes gave it away long before they got anywhere close to it, although she had learned to not mention it to him. She would just act surprise any way and most of the time the thought that went behind what he was doing was what counted, not her actually being surprised by it.

"I just know you, now you better get to your kids, they look like they're scared to death, although they shouldn't be after training with you," Kim said, as he gave her a quick kiss on each cheek and then turned to walk towards the kids he had been teaching for a long time now. She was right about them being scared, but hopefully he would be able to talk the nerves out of them.

"You better stop staring or he won't be able to compete, Kim," Billy said, as he sat down at the scorer's table, as they had asked him to do the scoring, since everyone thought he was the least likely to be biased. He had noticed some of the same changes that Jason had earlier that morning, but he was not going to breech the question, unless it was brought up in such a fashion that he could no longer help but to ask. And then he would have to prepare himself for an answer that he was not too sure he wanted to deal with this early on a Saturday. He was certain that he was not reading into this the wrong way, but he did not want to risk being punched by Kim if he was thinking the wrong thing, it had never been a comfortable position when that happened. "Who's first up?"

"Charlie Hughes and Jackson Morrow, against Alex Miller and Jason Davis," Kim said, as she read off the list Tommy had given her a few minutes ago, after going to talk to Jason about it, as he had forgotten to get the list when they first walked in the door. He had been so happy to see his best friend that he had forgotten about that little list, although they were all used to it. "Then we have Tommy and Jason. After that, we have Ashley Meggs and Charlie Hughes against Veronica Mills and Jason Davis. All of the others you'll have to ask Rocky for, I don't have that list."

"That's fine, you just need to be able to sit back and enjoy this," Billy said, as he sensed that Tommy did not want her to get too worked up over anything, as he seemed to be keeping an eye on her at all times. Over what? He hadn't been able to exactly figure out, yet.

"Billy," Kim said sitting down next to him and seeing him glance warily over at her before flicking his eyes in Tommy's direction. "Why wouldn't I enjoy it?"

"I don't know, but he's been keeping an eye on you all morning, whether you like it or not Kim. He either has a big secret to tell us all or something is going on between the two of you and my personal vote is for the latter," Billy said as Kim looked at him carefully and then looked away, as Billy knew that he had gotten it right, but he had better not press his luck on finding out anymore information. If something was going on between them, then they were sure to find out soon, although it might not be something that they wanted to hear. They could only hope that it was some little problem that had nothing to do with ranger duties, which would be a first in a very long time. "First up, we have Hughes and Morrow from Reefside against Davis and Miller from Angel Grove. We want a clean fight, referees, will you please enter the ring."

"Why not?" Adam said with a laugh, as he and Rocky stepped into the ring. Some people were worried that because Rocky was an instructor that he would not break things up soon enough for Angel Grove team members and he would do just the opposite for Reefside, but they all knew that Adam's level headedness would keep him from doing something like that. "Okay, boys, clean match. Each round will be three minutes and there can be up to fifteen points in a round. First round, Morrow and Miller will compete against each other. Second round, Hughes and Davis will compete against each other. Third round, all four of you. Any questions?"

"No, we can do this," Charlie said with a smile, before stepping out of the ring and standing beside it calmly. Jackson could take care of this, but he knew that he would be seeing the Davis boy one other time today and he did not want him to get it in his mind that he could beat him. Jackson fought his opponent rather well and when Charlie entered the ring, he was feeling rather confident for the first few seconds.

"So, Kim, what exactly is going on in Reefside?" Trini asked, as her friend sunk into a seat next to her and tried to pay attention to Charlie and the boy that he was sparring against, but she found that her mind was wondering off much more than it needed to. Tommy was not helping her any in that situation, as he was barely able to watch the match himself, as he kept his eyes on her.

"A lot of stuff, Trini," Kim said, as Tommy looked over at Kim, after a few seconds of watching the match, and noticed that she was looking pale, but he couldn't really worry about that right now, as he had to focus on not getting hurt by Jason. Charlie was then thrown up against the side of the ring and ducked as the blonde haired, green-eyed boy sent a kick towards his head his way.

"What type of things?" Kat asked, as Kim looked over at her as if she was about to answer the question, but then suddenly stood up and headed towards the locker room. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No, it's not you. She's done that twice already today. She seems to have something that is making her really nervous," Amanda said, as Trini got up to go check on her friend and Jason noticed the two empty seats and got the sinking feeling that he had been right in his assumption today, but he just needed to talk to someone else that would agree with what he was thinking. "I'm Amanda Williams by the way, I work with Tommy."

"I'm Katherine Hillard, an old friend of theirs," Kat said with a smile, as Amanda seemed to think back in her mind, trying to figure out if she had heard that name before. "You probably haven't heard of me, I'm not exactly Kim's favorite person in the world."

"I don't know about that. She's talked to me about you and Adam quite a bit and it seems that she doesn't think that you're all that bad, although you and Dr. Oliver over there did date for a little while," Amanda said with a smile. "I'm not here to judge though, I just came to see how some of my students were doing."

"Who the hell does he think that he is?" Jackson asked, as Charlie was thrown, yet again and he was surprised that the boy was able to get into his head so easily.

"Chill out, Jackson. Charlie can take care of himself in there and I'm sure that Ashley will straighten him out in between rounds," Tommy said, as the boy looked over at him and then sighed, knowing that, that was all of a response that he was going to get from Dr. Oliver. Sometimes they wished that he would drag them off to the side and yell at him like their football coach did, but then again, that was what made that football and this karate.

"Kim, are you alright?" Trini asked, as she heard her throw up and winced at the thought that crossed her mind. She knew that in all likelihood that her best friend was probably pregnant, but Kim and Tommy seemed to want to tell them in their own way, so she was going to let it slide. There was really no need to press the issue right now, anyway.

"I'll be fine Trini, breakfast just didn't agree with my stomach this morning," Kim said, stepping out of the bathroom stall and getting some paper towels out of the dispenser. She wet the towels and wiped off her face, trying to get the feeling out of her mind. She didn't like lying to her best friend, but she would find out all of it soon enough and that made her feel a tiny bit better.

"Okay, but you know that you can tell me if it is something else, don't you?" Trini asked, trying to lure Kim into spilling what it was without her feeling guilty about it.

"I know Trini, but I have someone who might get a little bit agitated with me if I do," Kim said, as they re-entered the dojo and they noticed that round two was over.

"Charlie," Ashley said and he looked down at her from his place in the ring, "listen to me. I know that you can fight that guy and win, but you have to quit worrying about how we'll do later. We can cross that bridge when we come to it, now take care of him in this next round and then we can sit back and watch Dr. O and Jason without a problem."

"But, Ashley," Charlie started to object, as she glared up at him. She was not going to deal with any of his excuses today and he was sure to find that out very soon.

"No buts, Charlie. You can do this and remember what Dr. O said. I'll have your back if you land on your ass during the next one," Ashley said, reaching up to give his hand a gentle squeeze before taking a few steps away and going to sit down on one of the walls.

"Dr. O," Charlie said, looking down at him as Jackson entered the ring and prepared himself for the last round.

"Charlie, she's right and we know that you'll listen to her. So listen and do what she says that you can do or else you will have one hell of a summer at the dojo, you understand me?" Tommy asked with a stern look as he watched the boy's eyes widen.

"Yeah, loud and clear Dr. O," Charlie said, as he turned around and noticed that they were waiting on him so that they could begin this round.

"You alright?" Amanda asked, as Kim sat down in the seat in front of her, careful not to draw anymore attention to herself.

"Yeah, breakfast just didn't agree with me this morning," Kim said, as she received a confused glance from Amanda before Kat decided that it might be best for her to go and join Zack and Aisha.

It was not that she didn't want to see what was wrong with Kim, but it was more like she didn't want to get the impression that what she was thinking was correct. They all knew just how risky that could be right now and they hoped that they could trick their minds into thinking otherwise. They desperately needed to do that for their sanity right now.

"Kim, come here please," Billy said, looking over his shoulder and she then stood up from her seat and walked over to Billy.

"What Billy?" Kim asked, sitting down next to him and placing her head on the table. She was becoming exhausted from how her stomach was acting today and if it continued to get worse; she was just going to have to go home. Tommy could hitch a ride with his parents, as he knew that she had been feeling particularly awful this morning.

"Do you need to go home?" Billy asked, as she turned her head to look up at him and wondered why he would ask that question.

"Why do you ask?" Kim said, sitting up and seeing that Charlie and Jackson were working together much better than they had over the last few weeks, although Ashley's pep talk might have helped a little bit.

She had watched as Ashley and Charlie became closer over the last year, while Tommy tried to keep himself from saying too much to her about it. They are too much like the two of them when they were there age, for the exception that they are not rangers, although with the way that they fought, you could not tell that one. They were great teenagers and it was a true shame that none of the dino gems had ever been meant for either of them, as they would have done an exceptional job as well. That, however, was not a topic that people brought up in everyday life, unless they had just witnessed a battle and even then, they were fairly quiet about it. A ranger's identity was never meant to be known, but there were times when it would be so much easier if it was.

"Well, the fact that you have vomited three times this morning does not help your cause any, missy," Billy said, as she paled and looked at him with wide eyes. "I'm not telling you to go home, but I think that you might need to, since you are supposed to be saving up your energy for something."

"I'll be fine, Billy, as long as I can sit up straight, I should be able to make it," Kim said with a smile, as Billy rang the bell to signal that the third round had ended and that they would soon be announcing a champion. From Billy's scoring sheet, she could tell who had won the match and she knew that Tommy would be happy about it, but he still had to sit through one more match in which his students were in the lime light.

"The winners are, Hughes and Morrow of Reefside," Adam said as he lifted up Charlie's arm and Charlie in turn lifted Jackson's, while the team from Angel Grove got out of the ring quietly. "Now, we have Jason Scott versus Tommy Oliver."

"Lord, help me," Kim said as she slid down in her chair a few inches, as she knew exactly what matches like this did to her mental well being.

Jason and Tommy had always been the type to lose the tops of their karate suits if they were in high stress situations and they both had done that now. She looked out at several of the girls in the audience, who were staring at the two, spoken for, men. It had been like this in high school, but now that she saw him like this on an everyday basis, her mind decided to play nasty tricks on her at the worst of times.

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Tommy asked, putting his arm around her and giving her a gentle squeeze before getting into the ring.

He had noticed several of the staring girls, but the one that made his heart skip a beat was his wife and she was probably the only one in that room who could have pulled off the look she was carrying on her face. Every feeling that she felt for him was somehow managing to be displayed for everyone to see and he couldn't help but wonder if her being pregnant made her forget to camouflage them.

"Fair fight guys and the loser has to," Adam said in a normal voice before dropping it to a whisper, "not give their significant other a hug or kiss for the rest of the day."

"Whoa," Tommy said, putting his hands in the air, wondering if he had agreed to this one day when he was not really listening to the conversation, as he had been known to do in times past. "I don't know about Jason, but that it is a warrant for death where I'm concerned."

"Then don't lose," Rocky said, as Tommy glared over at him. He honestly wondered if the black ranger had enough energy to go up against the two of them at once, but quickly decided he did not want to volunteer himself for such a thing, if he did then the two them might be icing bruises that night.

"Sorry, Jase," Tommy said, as they took their positions on the mats. "I can't risk her being mad at me right now."

"Tommy," Jason said, as they round started and Tommy went after him, as he had used to when he was the green ranger. He was scared to death that he would be held to what Rocky and Adam had said, although Jason doubted that either would hold them to it.

"Kim, honey, what did you make him mad about today?" Martha asked, as Tommy was fighting Jason a lot harder than he usually would. She had rarely seen Tommy go after someone like, unless he was mad and there was a very real chance that he was today. He had just been acting so odd around them.

"I don't think that I did anything today. It was probably something that Rocky or Adam said to him. They were talking about having some sort of crazy restriction for the loser, but knowing the two of them, they did it to be funny. Tommy might have taken it seriously this time though," Kim said, as she noticed Charlie and Ashley were sitting against the wall, talking about something unimportant, which was a relief to see.

"Ow," Jason said, as he ducked from one of Tommy's attacks and tried to get Billy's attention that he needed to call the match now. There was no way that Jason was going to be able to get anywhere close to Tommy's sharpness without some using some sort of powers and Alpha wouldn't be willing to give him a temporary connection for something like this. "What's on your mind?"

"You don't want to know," Tommy said, as his thoughts did happen to shift to Kim and their baby, before they went back to what Adam and Rocky said. He could not risk making Kim mad at him because of some stupid condition that they were holding over their heads. Jason could deal with Trini being mad, but with the way, Kim's mood swings were bound to be, he did not want to risk it today.

"Billy, do something," Jason muttered, as he landed one decent blow, before getting thrown against the ropes even harder than before. "I don't care if you put down a forfeit, I'm going to get injured if this doesn't stop soon."

"You have one minute left Jason, suck it up," Rocky muttered, as the people in the audience found it intriguing to watch these two grown men spar and see why some of the children were scared of both of them.

"How 'bout we switch?" Jason said, as Tommy laughed at what he was saying. He hadn't known that he had been taking it that hard on him and he tried to let up, but something in the back of his mind kept him fighting like that.

"Round over," Billy announced as he rang the bell and he watched as Jason and Tommy talked to each other in the center of the ring, wondering if they were going to go two more rounds.

It would be fun to watch two more rounds, but if it was not wise for the two of them to go that many more rounds, then they were just happy to get what they got out of them. They had never expected to go the whole match, as they usually didn't work that way. One of them would jump to a sudden advantage and that would be it for the rest of the match.

"What the hell is on your mind? You've never fought like this before," Jason said, as Adam and Rocky smiled at the expression on Tommy's face.

"I'll tell all of you later, but you just have to trust me that it is nothing bad," Tommy said, as he went back to his sparring position, but Jason was heading for the ropes, ready to get away from his irritated friend.

"Whoa, we have to announce a winner," Rocky said, as they were ready to play bit of a cruel joke on Tommy, but Jason shook his head no. He could tell from the gleam in Rocky's eyes what they had planned and he was not going to let them do that with the way that Tommy would react.

"Jason, he's right," Tommy said, as he walked over to the center of the ring, having caught the way that Rocky was acting, although Jason seemed to be ready to spar against him, if he had to.

"Well, in this case, it was more like a draw, wasn't it?" Adam said, as he lifted both of their hands and they looked at him as if he was crazy, as they knew who had, had the better round that day.

"Now, for our final advanced match up, we have Hughes and Meggs against Davis and Mills," Billy said, as the girls climbed into the ring first, with Tommy and Jason going over to sit with their respective counterparts.

"Hey, you feeling any better?" Tommy asked, sitting down next to Kim and casually putting on his karate top, although he did not tie it as tightly as usual. The teenage girls that were sitting close to him were trying to lean to where they could catch a glimpse of his skin, but they soon quit as Kim leaned against him.

"Not really, but I'll be fine. I was just hoping that it would have gone away sooner," Kim said, as Tommy's parents exchanged a confused glance, before Jason and Trini joined the rest of the former and current rangers. It made no sense that he would be asking her that question, but they could always ask about it later. "What about you? You were a little bit relentless today."

"Something that Adam and Rocky told us before we started," Tommy said, as Kim shook her head, at the fact that he had taken them seriously. She had known about what they were going to say, but the condition that she found herself in now, was what probably made Tommy act like that.

"So, you took them seriously?" Kim asked, as Jason nodded his head yes behind his back. "Tommy, they were only kidding with you."

"They shouldn't kid about that," Tommy said, as Kim laughed at the seriousness in his voice as she leaned closer to him and tried to watch the remainder of the tournament, having seen that Ashley and Charlie had been able to win their part of the competition with little effort.

AN: That's all for this chapter and I bet that you can guess what will be to come in the next one. A little reminder that there are only two chapters left in this story and that a third story will be out soon. I hope that you have enjoyed it and feel free to review at any time! Until the next chapter, happy reading!


	29. We Have Some News

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, Todd Billingsway, and all of the characters featured as karate competitors, as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**secretguest:** I know, but there were other things that I had to do first.

**TrueRomantic:** Thanks and I hope that you enjoy this chapter!

**Ghostwriter:** Yeah, but they're grown up a tiny bit since then and Tommy wasn't in his right mind, as you could tell. I know, but there is a third story that will be coming out in a few weeks.

**XRachX:** Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you liked Kat's reaction, I was not sure how some people would take it.

_A Little Bit of Relaxation_

_Tommy's POV _

The tournament went well for us this morning, with a few of my teams winning and a few losing, miserably, but I think they all enjoyed it, no matter what the outcome was for them. They at least got to compete against some people that they did not know and that let them find out what they were made of, in some ways, although some of them had a hard time with it. I have never seen Charlie that worried about something in my life and I honestly wonder if that was what I was like before missions, but they would just not tell me that. If it had anything to do with Kim, I can almost guarantee it, but there is no telling how I acted back then.

Kim's been getting tired over the last few hours, as the strain of getting up at three o'clock this morning sick has finally caught up with her. This was the first morning that she really was not able to get over it quickly, which isn't a very good thing for either of us. I know that she is having to physically will herself to stay outside and stay awake until we tell our friends the big news. I don't know what she is going to do after that happens, but I doubt that she will stay awake much longer and I doubt that our friends will be willing to leave until they have all of their answers. I know that there are some things that they will needed to know that no one else can ever hear about.

"Tommy, you did wonderful up there today. You were a little bit tough on Jason, but you did good," Martha said as she gave her son a hug and then turned to look at Kim, who was leaning heavily against Tommy's side with drooping eyelids. She noticed that her daughter-in-law had been fighting fatigue the entire day, but she had somehow managed to keep herself awake throughout the tournament and now the barbecue that they were holding. Something seemed to be a little bit odd, but she knew her son would explain it all, sometime. There was no way that he could have not noticed how she was acting, so he must know what was going on if he wasn't worried about her. "And you, missy, need to get some more rest. You look positively worn out."

"I know, Martha. I just couldn't go back to sleep after I woke up this morning," Kim said looking at her mother-in-law and giving her a weak smile.

She was sleepy but she knew it was only a matter of time before Tommy told them about the baby on the way. Then she would really have to fight the fatigue, as she was sure there would be a few people that wanted to congratulate them and some who might have more questions than any other things. The questions would not be that bad from some people, but she hated knowing that her ranger friends would have the hardest questions to answer. Namely the ones that had to deal with whether or not she would ever fight again.

"Kim, come here for a second," Jason said, as he and Billy had both come to the conclusion that she was pregnant but they wanted to hear it from her, before they kept on assuming something of that magnitude.

If they were wrong then they would come up with some sort of excuse as to why they asked her about it, but it seemed that they both doubted that they would be wrong in this case. She was just acting too much like a pregnant woman and Tommy was certainly doing a good job of being the worried husband, which made it more obvious to them. If Tommy had not been as worried, then they would have thought nothing about it, but he was barely able to keep his eyes off of her for more than a few seconds right now.

"Okay," Kim said pushing herself off of the chair she had been sharing with Tommy and walking over to Jason and Billy. She looked to be apprehensive as to what they might ask her as she walked over to them. They just seemed to be itching to find out something and she knew them too well to lie to them about whatever they asked her.

"Little sister, promise you won't lie to me when I ask this; I know that you want to tell us all at once, but I need to know," Jason said, putting his arm around her and watching her examine her shoes carefully before looking up at him. He also couldn't help but notice that she leaned on him more than he thought she ever would after she started dating Tommy. She was exhausted and he just hoped that this would explain it all to the two of them.

He didn't really want to hear that they were up all night doing research on what was going on with Mesogogg. That, alone, would make him mad, as they needed to rest just like everyone else. They had, had enough sleepless nights because of them being rangers and they hoped that they were not having any more now. They were supposed to be trying to relax, instead of trying to prepare themselves. They would have time to do that later, as he knew Billy was supposed to be helping them some.

"I won't, but I don't like the sound of this, Jase," Kim said, as Billy and Jason looked at each other over her head before Billy decided to ask the question. He was the least likely to be punched by Kim if he was wrong, as they both knew that Kim was more than willing to add another bruise to Jason's arm. Jason would also be able to hold Kim back if she became mad about all of this and they both knew that, which was why he already had his arm around her, just in case.

"We're just wondering if you're pregnant," Billy said, quietly, as Kim stared at him before glancing over at Tommy, who was watching them carefully, knowing that they could have to talk to her about a multitude of subjects.

Why couldn't he just come over there and save her from this situation? She didn't want to have to tell them before everyone else, but they had been able to figure it out, so she didn't have much of a choice. She couldn't lie, although she was very tempted to try to get away with it for just a few seconds longer, but she knew that they would not buy it at all.

"We were going to tell you later today, but I might as well tell you that you've guessed right," Kim said, as Jason gave her and hug and then noticed Tommy walking up behind her with a smile on his face, although it could not mask the worry in his eyes.

He had carried that look many times before and it did nothing but insure to all of them that she would be taken care of, no matter what else happened. There had been guys that she had dated before him that seemed to careless about what happened to her, but he did care and that was what ultimately got his approval from all of her, and eventually his, friends.

"You alright?" Tommy asked quietly, as she yawned and nodded her head yes. He knew that her getting this tired was not a good thing, but he would be able to take it. He could not avoid thinking about the fact that she had been up since a God forsaken hour this morning and that was probably what helped cause it, besides her being sick. "You don't mind if I steal her away for a few minutes, do you?"

"Nope, she's all yours," Jason said, as he noticed Tommy had put his arm around her and was carefully eyeing her sleepy form.

They had all seen Kim that tired before, but this time, he knew, it was different from all of those other times. It was not caused by the stress of a battle that they had just had; it was just her body begging her to slow down some. That, however, was something that Kimberly Oliver would never do, unless she was forced to do so by someone and that someone might have to be Tommy. He seemed determined to keep the two of them safe, no matter what it took to do just that.

"I know that you need to get some rest, so I think we'll just go ahead and say this to them now. Then you can go lay down if you need to," Tommy said, as she nodded and then he gave her a quick hug. They were both nervous about telling their family and friends, but it was something they had to do, as there was really no explanation other than her having a baby for some of the changes that would occur to her. They knew that they couldn't put it off any longer, as they had already called her parents and they were sure that they would tell someone who knew someone, eventually and neither of them wanted any of their friends to find out from anyone but the two of them. "Everybody, can I have your attention for a few seconds?"

"Sure," Conner said, as Kira smacked him on the back of the head before focusing on whatever their leader had to say to all of them.

She knew that there were quite a few people there who were not rangers and it could not be completely ranger related, although he could say something that was semi-ranger related, if he wanted to. He was someone that had the skill to make it sound important enough that no one would ask if they didn't understand and those that did knew to wait until they were away from everyone else to ask their questions. They knew much better than to ask a question while anyone that did not know that they were rangers was around, although Conner had almost forgot several times, which caused him quite a few bruises.

"Thanks for the verbal conformation, Conner. Kim and I have some news that we need to tell all of you. I guess that there is really no way to kinda give an introduction to this, so here it goes. A few days ago Kim went to the doctor and we found out that we're going to have a baby," Tommy said, as Kim smiled up at him and then really looked out at their friends, hoping they would be able to take it all right.

The ones that were rangers looked excited for about two seconds before it hit them what else that meant for them and no one else there. She was out, as simple as that. There was no questioning that Tommy wouldn't let her set one foot in the command center if she intended to morph and it might kill him to do that to her, but he would do it, in order to protect someone that they didn't know yet. They had to protect the baby and in order to do that, they would be down a ranger if Mesogogg came back while she pregnant, which was a scary thing to have to deal with.

"A grandbaby?" Martha asked, as she stared at Kim and Tommy as they both nodded towards her and she quickly stood up to give Kim a hug. She felt the girl sway a little at the swift movement and could tell she was clutching onto one of Tommy's hands, for the extra support she needed from him. "That's why you're tired?"

The tiredness seemed to have more to do with something like morning sickness, although the rangers were also thinking of what her powers might be doing to her and the baby right now. They had never had a ranger become pregnant while they were still able to morph, actually they had never had a ranger become pregnant at all, but they'd make it through. This happened to be the two people that had nearly destroyed everything precious to them, only to find it right when they would be able to salvage everything and they were not going to let it go unless they had to.

"Among other things, yes," Kim said, as she gave her a stern look and then pushed her gently down into the chair that was behind her. Kim had often wondered where Tommy had gotten his protectiveness from, but now she saw that his mother had the same trait. It would have been funny if she had not been so thoroughly exhausted, but she knew that she needed to rest, no matter what anyone else said.

"You have to watch out for yourself and that little one now, so you get all the rest that you need. Tommy can do more work around the house if that is what it takes and you tell me if he doesn't do something that you ask him to do," Martha said, as Kim smiled and knew that, that little speech gave Tommy more power with his argument and she resigned herself to tell him that she was going to sit back.

She couldn't keep up the argument that she was needed out there and although it would kill her if something happened to the baby, she knew that it would do the same thing to Tommy and her in-laws. She couldn't do that to them or herself, for that matter. She had wanted to have a child with Tommy for so long and now that she was pregnant, she knew, deep down, she didn't need to risk any of it.

"Tommy," Jason said, calling his attention over to the guys and he walked over there feeling them carefully judging each of his subtle mannerisms. They knew him just as well as Kim did, if not better when he was this worried, and he could tell that they were all trying to figure out how it was best to talk to him now.

"What?" Tommy asked, as they laughed at the question he was asking them and how apprehensive he sounded. He imagined that they would not be too happy about all of this, but they would deal with it or they would deal with his wrath, they knew that much. He was excited about it and there was no need for any of them to get aggravated with him, he just was happy that they were going to have a baby.

"We're not going to criticize you, we just wanted to tell you congrats," Zack said, as Tommy stared at him for a second before giving him a hug. "Hey, Tommy, can't breathe man."

"Sorry," Tommy said, as they laughed and then he turned serious, as they saw how nervous he was. He was trying to hide it from them, but he was doing a horrible job at it. He, usually, was able to manage it but he could no longer do that and they wondered if he was losing some of his sharpness as he got older or if this was something that just made him more nervous than anything else.

"So, when is her due date?" Billy asked, as they all noticed he was trying to be calm, but he wanted to drag them inside, spill all his worries to them, and then come back outside as his normal self.

"End of February, beginning of March," Tommy said, as they nodded and he knew that they understood that they really did have a full nine months to wait before she would have the baby.

If something happened during those months, they were sure that Tommy would be looking out for her first and for the rangers second, which was alright, they didn't expect any less from him. He had made the point that she wouldn't have to choose about being a ranger if a baby came a long and they were now making it a point that he wouldn't have to worry as well.

"Call me any time you need me," Jason said, as the others nodded that they felt the same way.

If a battle was to break out, they were all willing to put on the pink uniform, in order to help protect one of their own, even if the guys hated it. They had to admit that they would rather one of the girls put on the uniform, but Kat might not exactly be willing to try to get those powers, just to have to give them back. Kim and her exchanging powers again just did not seem good for the two of them at all. They didn't want for things to become confusing and that seemed to be the easiest way to keep it from doing so.

"Don't worry. I will if I need you, you know that," Tommy said, as Kim wandered over and leaned against his bare shoulder. Some of the guys smiled as he gathered her exhausted form in his arms and cautiously pulled her in front of him. She looked as if she could fall asleep in his arms and was more than willing to do that if he would let her.

"So Mama's doing alright right now?" Trini asked, as she stood next to Jason and the other girls walked over, as they had been watching Mrs. Oliver talk to Kim, which they were all fine with letting her do. She had the right to tell Kim some advice and to warn her about over stressing herself, which they were sure Tommy was doing already, just because of the way that he was. If he hadn't done that, they would honestly wonder if something was wrong with him, as he never allowed a situation this serious to not have some serious discussion go along with it.

"Yeah, just tired," Kim said, wearily looking up at Tommy, silently begging him to tell her to go inside and take a nap, as she was likely to fall asleep standing up right now.

"Go take a nap. We'll be fine out here and I'm sure that everyone will understand," Tommy said, as he knew that their friends would probably stay the night or at least for a few hours after everyone else left, so they could clarify everything that they needed to. There was a lot more that they needed to know, that was frankly no one else's business, but they couldn't really tell anyone that. If they did, then they would have to explain what in the world they were talking about.

"Thank you, Tommy," Kim said giving him a kiss on the cheek, before turning to go inside, having to stop to answer some questions every few feet as she headed towards the door.

"So, we're staying tonight?" Adam asked with a smile as Kat laughed at the expression that was settling on Tommy's face.

"Yeah, unless you don't have some things that you need to talk to us about," Tommy said, leaving it hanging as they all knew that he could not say much more if he wanted to make sure that nothing happened to all of them.

"Works for me," Aisha said, as the female's decided they were going to go off and talk about this, as the guys had other things that were sure to come up in their conversation with Tommy that would disturb them more than anything else.

_After the Barbecue _

"Hey sleepyhead," Tommy said with a smile, as Kim walked down the stairs and was carefully pulling her hair back into a rather messy ponytail.

She seemed to be rested, but if she was to sit still much longer, then she would fall asleep against his side again. He could tell by looking at her that, that was true and they all knew that by the look on her face as well. She might have had a chance to rest, but her body still wanted to sleep a great deal more.

"How long did I sleep?" Kim asked, as she went to sit down beside Tommy on the couch, as she noticed the other rangers were hanging around the living room. They seemed to have been waiting to get the two of them in the room together before they started having the important conversational topics come up. If only one of them was there, then they wouldn't have the full story come out and there was no need to ask all of this twice.

"A few hours," Tommy said, as she looked at him wondering if what he said was really true, but it had gotten much darker outside, so that led her to believe that that was true.

She had only planned to sleep for about fifteen minutes, but her body had kept her asleep for much longer than that. Well, considering what time she had rolled out of bed this morning, she was not really surprised about all of it and she had a feeling that her friends weren't all that mad about it. They had dealt with much worse over the years and she was sure that they would deal with worse if they kept on being rangers. It just kinda came with the package, which was not something that they would willingly admit to.

"So, what do you know about Mesogogg or is it more of the same right now?" Kat asked, as Tommy closed his eyes at the mention of everything else that was going on in their life.

It would not have been a problem if he was gone, but he was still there and none of them were sure what Tommy would do if something were to happen to Kim or the baby. He had already had his nerves pushed one time, he couldn't have them pushed again. If they were then he was likely to go on a one-man mission and they did not like the sound of that at all. He would not think rashly and would possibly kill anyone that got in his way, even his friends. He had usually been able to calm himself down, but from the experience of the last time that she had been captured; they all wanted to highly suggest to Mesogogg that he never try it again.

"We know that his tryadrone resources are now non existent, but he still has his main cohorts helping him. None of them look to be too willing to turn away from him, although Richard is the shakiest of all of them. He is still a full human, unlike Elsa and Zeltrax," Billy said, as he had been doing a great deal of research with Alpha, as Hayley had not completely recovered from the mental distress that their last problem had caused.

She had been avoiding the command center over the last few weeks, but she would soon be going back down there to help with the modifications that need to be done. They did not trust Tommy to do them alone and now they really weren't going to let him, as him blowing up the house with his wife in it was never a good idea.

"We also know that my powers will protect me some if Richard or one of the other's attack me, but from what Alpha has found out, I don't need to morph at all. There is no telling what the power surge might do to the baby or me right now. I just can't risk something like that happening," Kim said quietly, as they all stared at her, wondering how she was able to be so calm about it. When she looked up, she wiped her eyes to try to keep from letting it bother her anymore, but they could all tell that it was pulling at her heart to have to say it. She didn't want to admit that she just couldn't be a ranger, no matter how much she needed to sit on the sidelines and watch.

"So, we really are one ranger down out there? It's not just talk, you really can't go out there?" Conner asked, knowing what the answer would be long before Tommy said anything to him.

It was obvious from the beginning that she was not going to be with them, but the bigger question was would he be willing to go out there with them right now. If he wasn't, what were they going to do? They needed him to be out there with them, at least some of the time. He was the person that boosted their team moral, when no one else could manage to do it.

"At least one ranger down. I'm not going out there unless you really need me to help you. You know how I feel about risking things and this is something I can not risk," Tommy said, as several of the rangers nodded that they agreed with what he was saying, although the Dino rangers were staring at him, wondering how he could abandon them now. He had to be losing his mind to say that he would not help them at all.

"Whoa, you're not fighting either? I thought that it would just be Kim if something like this happened not you, too," Kira said, as she noticed that Kim had given him a suspicious look, but she knew that she was not going to be able to talk him out of it. He looked determined, he wanted to keep his wife safe, and staying at home during the battles would help with that some, although there were bound to be times that he would be needed out there. It just never seemed like he was going to get a true break from all of it. "What happens if we get down and we can't get in touch with you? Dr. O, we can't leave here without knowing that you'll come help us if we really need you."

"That shouldn't happen and we all know that he will come," Hayley said, looking over at Tommy. They had talked about updating Tommy and Kim's communicators and now they were in the process of doing just that. It didn't matter where Tommy was, they would be able to reach him, and they would be able to get him out there, if it was absolutely necessary to do so. There were some times when he needed to stay at the dojo or the school, as to not arouse anymore suspicion, but he would leave if it was absolutely necessary and the same went for Kim, up until now. Now, she would be teleported places only if there was a threat to her that she could not get away from by some other means. They didn't exactly know what teleportation would do, but it would not be as bad as morphing, they were sure of that much. "We've done some modifications and it should make it much easier for us to get in touch with him, if we have to."

"What happens if Kim's captured by Mesogogg now?" Trent asked as they looked over at him for a few seconds.

No one else would have been willing to ask about that, but it was his father and he did not want to know that he had caused someone's death in the back of his mind when he was fighting him. If he did that, he didn't know what he would do to his father and Tommy got the impression about what he was thinking. He hated knowing that Trent knew whom he was going up against, but they had no choice but to deal with it.

"The same thing that happened last time. We'll do whatever they ask to get her back, safely, and then we'll worry about ourselves. We have to look out for others first and ourselves second," Tommy said, gripping Kim's hand as he struggled with his own emotions.

This was one topic that he had hoped to avoid, but it came up now, which was better than later in some respects. He was going to become more emotional as all of this went further along and he could hardly bare to think about it happening now, but it happening later really worried him. Right now she could still fight some and not worry about it harming the baby, but as the baby grew, then she would have to worry about that very thing.

"But Alpha will teleport her out of harm's way if he detects it in time," Billy said, as he had talked with Alpha about that very thing, although it had not been in the context of her being pregnant. He was going to have to do some tests to insure that the teleportation would not do anything to the baby, but other than that, everything would go the same as planned or so he hoped.

"I just want to know one thing," Jason said, as he had been keeping quiet, as he knew that all of this needed to be said. His question was about as ominous as Trent's, but they had to face the harsh reality that it might come true. There was no telling how long it would take Mesogogg to come back and if they didn't deal with it now, then they would never truly deal with it. "What happens if we have to fight Mesogogg before the baby is born? We'll be down one pink ranger as is, I don't know if it is good for us to be down two."

"Ya'll have to fight. You don't have a choice about it," Kim said, as Tommy looked at her and started to object to her statement, but he knew that everything that she was saying was true. He would have to fight then, no matter how much he wanted to stay with her and try to keep Mesogogg from messing with her and their baby. She could take care of herself and they all knew that, although it some times did land her on the gurney in the command center. This time, though, they could not deal with that happening. Tommy would lose his mind this time and they all knew it. "I can take care of myself and I highly doubt that Hayley and Alpha will let me out of the command center if that happens. Listen, you can not shun your duty because I'm pregnant. I don't expect any of you to act any differently than you did when we fought together, I just won't be out there, simple as that. There is nothing that we can really do about it now."

"Why does that sound hard to believe?" Aisha asked with a smile, as they all knew how Kim was when she was in a situation like that.

Alpha and Hayley might have to lock her in the command center closet, as they knew how she would start begging to go out there. Especially if something happened to Tommy, then they probably wouldn't be able to control her, but they would because they were asked to or at least they would try to control her, somehow.

"Because we all know how Kim is when things happen," Tommy said, as he knew that they had still not resolved the problem of whether she would fight at all.

"I promise, I'm not going out. I want this baby too much to not do what is needed to be done. I won't set one hand on my morpher until after the baby is born, I promise," Kim said, with a tinge of sadness in her voice, but Tommy gave her a firm hug before smiling down at her.

They had all thought that Tommy and Kim had already worked this situation out, but it was now obvious that they had not. None of them could imagine why she would even want to go out there now, but there were some reasons that popped into their brains. She had never liked letting Tommy be out there without her and it was possible that she was willing to risk things to keep him safe, although he was not willing to let her do that.

"Thank you," Tommy whispered, where no one else could hear him. Several of the other rangers were surprised to see how Tommy was reacting, but they knew that they had, had their fair share of problems before now.

"Hey, I know that this is crazy to say, but I think that we're going to go ahead and go home. I don't know how much more news I can take in one day and it seems that we could talk about things for hours," Kat said, as Adam nodded in agreement. Several of their other friends got up at the same time, preparing themselves to leave, as they knew that they really had only so much that they could do. It was now their waiting game to play, no matter how much they disliked it.

AN: There is only one chapter left, I hope that you like it and feel free to review!


	30. The Beginning of the Wait

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers or any of the weapons associated with the Power Rangers, so if you recognize it, it is not mine. I do own the characters, Ally Jameson, Fanny Abbott, Richard Myles, Dennis Alderway, Amanda Williams, Charlie Hughes, Ashley Meggs, Amy Tillery, Meagan Sipper-Stone, Jack Abrams, Todd Billingsway, and all of the characters featured as karate competitors, as well as any other characters from "Saving the World, Again" that may be brought into this story.

**Daisyz:** I don't know if this chapter will be all that great to you, but I hope you like it anyway and that it will be able to make the transition smoothly to the final story (I think).

**TrueRomantic:** Thanks for the review and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

**Ghostwriter:** Well, I couldn't just have everyone wondering what happens to Kim and Tommy, so you'll see what happens in the third story.

**secretguest:** Thanks for reviewing and I hope that you enjoy this chapter.

Now on with the Story!

_The Beginning of the Long Wait_

_Tommy's POV _

We have begun to wait out this lull in activity, which is a true blessing, as we are happy for each day that we have that Mesogogg or his forces do not appear in the now, somewhat, peaceful town of Reefside. I'm worried about my wife and our baby, as there is no guarantee that Alpha will be able to detect something if things go the way that everyone thinks that it might when Mesogogg decides to come back after the dino gems.

I know that I would be a basket case if that were to come true, but I try not to think about it most days, as we are trying to enjoy our summer break. This may be one of the last breaks we have for awhile that is not littered with work on the command center and the rangers' Zords or other things that are ranger related, although she may not do a lot of work on that either. Not if I have it my way, but it might be rather hard to have it my way this time. She seems determined to do something, even if it is not the ordinary things.

A few days after we told our family and friends about the baby, something rather odd showed up on Reefside's nightly news. I know what you're thinking, but some people in this town just have the right connections and one of my students happens to be one of those very people, which is just wonderful to have to deal with, especially since I had thought that she had stopped trying to spy on me and instead go after the rangers, which is about the same really, but she does not know that it is me under that mask.

Cassidy had somehow gotten wind of the fact that my wife was pregnant and she decided that everyone needed to know about it right away, although they would have all found out as the summer went on. Reefside is not a very big town and I am sure that eventually most of the people would have known without the news report. Well, it is needless to say that I was pissed when I watched the television broadcast and I didn't do a good job of concealing my anger when Kim got home that evening.

Kim had gone grocery shopping before the broadcast was aired that night; she just wanted to be able to go somewhere alone and the grocery store didn't bother me. There were too many people around for Mesogogg to try something crazy and I knew that he did not want to risk the public finding out any more about him than they already knew, as that would help us, not him. But she had no clue what she was coming home to. She didn't know that I was going to be this mad about all of it; she didn't even know about the broadcast on the news that evening. I said some things that upset her a lot more than I needed to, some things that I deeply regret, but she didn't retaliate this time, I don't think that she could at the time.

_Flashback_

"Tommy, can you help me bring in the groceries?" Kim asked, as she opened the door to their house and quietly looked around to see if he had fallen asleep on the couch in the living room. It was oddly quiet, but little did she know that Tommy had turned off the television, in order to not slam his fist into it and break it because of his anger.

"You can't get them?" Tommy asked, before he thought about what he was saying. He honestly could not believe that Cassidy had, had the nerve to get someone to say that on the local news. He was not newsworthy, although he did see a great deal of himself on television, not that anyone else knew that it was him in that black uniform that would tell. That was the type of thing he could stand to see, as he was used to it, but everything else that this student had done was not normal, by any means.

"Sure," Kim said quietly sensing that something had made him mad, no actually furious, although she could not see why he would take it out on her. She had not done anything to him, hell; she hadn't even been home most of the day, so why was he so mad at her? "You alright, Tommy?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Tommy snapped, as she gave him a long look before turning towards the door and going to get the groceries without another word to him. If he was going to be like that, so be it, she would just try to avoid him most of the time, but he would have to talk to her eventually, they were married after all.

"How has your day been?" Kim asked, after she had brought in the groceries and had the bags settled around the kitchen, depositing the food from each bag in its normal place around the kitchen. She didn't know if she wanted to hear about it, but it would be all right either way or so she thought.

"It was just wonderful, one of my students decided to publicize my life, which pisses me off and you aren't even acting as if you care about any of it," Tommy said, as he suddenly caught how he was sounding and the fact that she didn't know anything about this. He had been so caught up in his madness towards Cassidy that he had completely forgotten about how Kim would take this now. He had tried to be careful, but he just was not able to do that, because of how mad he was. He never wanted someone to feel as if they needed to investigate his life; otherwise, they would find out some things about him that he had never wanted anyone to even think about. "I'm sorry."

"Just put up the groceries, Tommy," Kim said quietly, as she started crying at his harshness, but she did not want any comfort that came from him right now. She just wanted him to leave her alone and let her try to figure out why he was acting like this towards her.

_End of Flashback_

She cried for hours because of what I said to her that night, although she was not the person that I was mad at, by any means. That was even worse to see than anything else was, I never wanted to make her cry like that and when I did, I felt like dirt that she had stomped into the welcome mat before coming inside after a bad day at work.

I never felt lower in my life and I hope that I will never feel that way again. I wound up sleeping on the couch that night, because I didn't feel like I deserved to sleep in the same bed next to her, not with how hurt she seemed about what I said while I was still too angry to think about what was coming out of my mouth.

The next morning, I woke up to find her snuggled up next to me, barely able to stay on the couch, as I had taken up more room than I usually do, as I wanted to make myself feel like there was no more room for anyone next to me. It's hard for me to sleep without her next to me, but I guess I was too distressed to think about it. I know that I hadn't woken up when she had come down there, but I knew that I was forgiven, as she never would sleep next to me if I wasn't.

From that day forward I have been trying to censor everything that I say, trying not to trigger a mood swing that I will regret causing. She hasn't been the one to say anything hurtful, but I feel that my day is coming. There is bound to be a day when her mood will swing to the nasty side and I'm just hoping that I won't have had a bad day at the dojo or something like that. Then I know that my mood will follow hers as well and we really will have a fight.

As for Mesogogg, well he has not done anything that makes us think that he is close to having his full power back, but who really knows about that one. The longer that he is away, the longer we will be able to protect ourselves and our baby from any harm, although I think that both of us would give up anything to make sure that the baby is alright. I know that if we were to be attacked I'd jump in front of anything that came in front of her, but she wouldn't want me to do that. I'd have to, she's my wife, and that's my baby, too. We know that we may be waiting for a long time before he returns, but we are ready for whenever that day will come.

AN: I know that this is a very short last chapter, but I couldn't think of any other way to make the transition between these two stories smoother, so I hope that you like it. Feel free to review, but I have to remind you that it will probably be a few weeks before the third story begins, as I have one story to finish posting in between.


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